DISCRIMINANT-ANALYSIS OF LEAF WAX ALKANES IN THE LAMIACEAE AND 4 OTHER PLANT FAMILIES

Leaf wax n-alkanes and iso-alkanes were determined in several species of the Lamiaceae and used as chemotaxonomic characters. These alkane c lasses were also determined in species belonging to Boraginaceae, Verb enaceae, Solanaceae and Scrophulariaceae and the results were compared to those obtained from the Lamiaceae. The plot of area percentages of some n-alkanes and iso-alkanes provided a good partition both inside the Lamiaceae and among the five different families examined. Discrimi nant analysis provided a much deeper insight into pattern partition co nfirming the chemotaxonomic usefulness of leaf wax alkanes. The data o btained for Lamiaceae are also discussed with regard to different syst ematic subdivisions of the family.