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A statistical study of relationships of certain species of the solanum nigrum complex

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Summary

A comparative study was made of eleven species ofSolanum (Morella), mainly from tropical America. Through a statistical analysis of correlation of 26 characters of each species by the “variable group method” a scheme of relationships was determined. Three groups of related species were recognized: Group IS. villosum, S. Roxburghii, S. nigruni, andS. americanum; Group IIS. melanocerasum andS. nodiflorum; Group IIIS. douglasii, S. Leonii, S. interandinutu, S. amethystinum, andS. gracile. The relationships derived from the statistical method showed rather close agreement to those expected from ordinary taxonomie procedures.

Results of artificial hybridizations between the various taxa are presented, and it is found that, based on the analysis of hybrid fertility, rather close agreement with the systematic relationship is found in a number of cases, although there are several exceptions, particularly in the hybrids of the diploid species.

Although the statistical method used here is extremely time consuming, it appears to offer some advantages and is deserving of a wider trial. The use of the statistical method minimizes the subjective element in plant taxonomy, but the exercise of taxonomic judgment is still necessary in the selection and evaluation of characters and in the final interpretation of the results.

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Both authors would like to express their appreciation to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The senior author carried out the statistical and cytogenetic analysis while at Indiana University on a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the junior author collected much of the material for the study while a Guggenheim Fellow in 1953. The authors would also like to express their thanks to those mentioned in the paper and others who furnished seeds or herbarium specimens for study. A key to the species in the present study and their detailed descriptions as well as much of the details concerning the statistical and cytogenetic analysis may be found in the senior author’s Ph.D. thesis (1958) in the Library of Indiana University. The thesis is available on microfilm from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Jorge, S.V., Heiser, C.B. A statistical study of relationships of certain species of the solanum nigrum complex. Econ Bot 15, 245–255 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862165

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