1Plant Systematics and Evolution Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Atta ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
2Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, 95616, CA, USA
3Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Received: 21 July 2024 / Accepted: 27 January 2025 / Published Online: 22 February 2025
Abstract
Cyperaceae, commonly known as a sedge family, is widely distributed and is cosmopolitan, it is the third largest among the monocots. It has great ecological and ethnobotanical value but the taxonomic classification of the family at both morphological and molecular level is not much studied. The species resemble a lot and hence are very difficult to differentiate without proper identification. For the taxonomic implication of nut (one of the important parts of inflorescence) in plant identification, sixteen different sedge species were collected from various parts of the country. They were analyzed under stereo and scanning electron microscope to understand the differences among nut characters which help to differentiate among species of the same family. The three most important characteristics considered were Nut shape, size and color. All the species showed variation enabling identification easily. The surface of nut was also observed under the scanning electron microscope and showed great variation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to check the impact of characters on the grouping of the species. Based on the results of this study, it can be said that nuts play a very important role in the identification and classification of the plant on a morphological and micromorphological basis.
Keywords: Sedges, Nut, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Stereomicroscopy, Micromorphology, PCA, UPGMA
