Divergence and genetic parameters between Melia dubia genotypes based on morpho-anatomical stomatal descriptors

Abstract Stomata, a regulatory system in leaves, aids in identifying plant species to complete taxonomic data. This study investigated the stomatal descriptors of Melia dubia, a potential plywood species to distinguish within variation in the species to explain the diversity and diagnostic significance of these attributes. Twenty clones were selected to investigate nine stomatal characters related to stomatal type, length, width, density, and distribution. The results showed the presence of hypostomatic leaves with anomocytic stomata that falls under the category small. Stomatal clustering, an abnormal stomatal patterning formed by two or more stomata in the epidermis was also observed. The examined data were subjected to a numerical analysis using SPSS and R packages. A significant variation in observed parameters were obtained. Correlation analysis shows that stomatal length, width, and size were significantly correlated to pore length, pore width, pore perimeter and stomatal pore depth. Further hierarchical cluster analysis using average linkage between groups method clustered all the 20 clones into 5 clusters apportioning the variation among clones. Divergence analysis using Mahanalobis distance-based clustering detailed the dissimilarities and differences between the clones. The study highlights the diagnostic potential of stomatal features in identifying variations within the species. This report is the first detailed description of stomatal features in the genus Melia, implying its significant contribution to the knowledge in this area. This study underscores the potential of stomatal features as a diagnostic tool for plant species identification and taxonomic studies.