Evaluation of Taxonomic Relationships among Selected Acacia Species Using Euclidean Distance Analysis.

The present investigation evaluates the taxonomic relationships among four economically and ecologically important members of the tribe Acacieae using numerical taxonomy based on Euclidean distance. Four species, namely Vachellia nilotica, Senegalia senegal, Acacia leucophloea, and Senegalia catechu, were compared using binary-coded morphological characters. Thirty seven qualitative morphological characters related to vegetative, reproductive, and defensive structures were selected from authenticated taxonomic literature. Binary data were analyzed using Euclidean distance to estimate phenetic dissimilarity among taxa. The resulting distance matrix indicated that Vachellia nilotica and Senegalia catechu exhibited the closest relationship, whereas Acacia leucophloea showed the greatest divergence from Senegalia senegal. Cluster analysis grouped species according to overall morphological similarity rather than traditional generic placement, supporting the usefulness of numerical taxonomy in evaluating phenetic relationships within Acacieae(Ahmed, S., & Johnson, D. V.,2019).The study demonstrates that Euclidean distance analysis provides an objective and reproducible approach for species delimitation and taxonomic interpretation. The study is intended to provide a reproducible framework for assessing morphological similarity among closely related taxa and to contribute to the understanding of taxonomic relationships within the former Acacia complex.