Morphological variations in Combretum indicum (L.) DeFilipps from the Philippines

Abstract

In the Philippines, Combretum indicum (L.) DeFilipps is a native crop important for medicinal and ornamental purposes. Despite its importance in the country, there had been no attempts to elucidate its intraspecific variation. In-situ and ex-situ characterization were done in 15 C. indicum accessions from the collection of the Philippine Biorepository Network (for medicinal plants). The accessions were then planted in the field at three replicates and grown for 12 months at the Institute of Crop Science (ICropS), University of the Philippines Los Baños. Eleven quantitative characters were measured, and 24 qualitative characters were observed. Four distinct floral morphotypes potentially correlated to the ability to bear seeds in situ and ex situ have been identified. The first morphotype can be delineated in terms of the pin type stigmatic position respective to the anther, explicative petal ptyxis, and abaxial petal color. The second morphotype bears the longest flowers and largest petals with a level stigmatic position, while the third morphotype bears the shortest villous thrum-type flowers. The fourth morphotype is the only morphotype capable of producing staminoid petals. Out of the four floral morphotypes, only the first morphotype was observed to have high fecundity in situ and ex situ which indicates potential higher utility as a medicinal plant in the Philippines. This is the first detailed report on the intraspecific variation of C. indicum.