Q. Morphology in relation to taxonomy?
Morphology is the basic tool of taxonomy, because identification is primarily based on the characters of the plant. The morphological characters are easily observable in both living plants and in herbarium specimens. They have provided the basic information for a majority of the classification systems in plant taxonomy. In recent years, electron microscopy has provided a valuable tool to the modern taxonomist to study different morphological characters at high magnification and this information is used for purposes of identification, classification and for establishing relationships.
Heywood and Dakshini used the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to study the surface patterns of the fruit (called mericarp) in 40 species from 12 genera of the family Umbelliferae. They found that many micro characters on the fruit wall observed with the help of the SEM are of great value in clarifying the relationships of the different genera. They also observed a great diversity in the structure of the fruit in these species and this provides new information of significant practical value for taxonomic purposes.
Most taxonomists have traditionally separated the genus Glinus Linn. from the genus Mollugo Linn. on the basis of seed characters; but sometimes there were difficulties in proper identification of the two genera. With the help of the SEM, the seed surface patterns have been examined in detail to establish the importance of seed surface micro characters in the identification of the genera. Also, within the genus Mollugo, seed-coal micro morphology has helped in identifying different species.