Differentiation of mistletoes (Santales) on the basis of geographical origin

Multivariate statistical analysis of gas chromatographic data has been appl ied to the differentiation of species of mistletoe based on their geographi c origin. Mistletoe plants were collected from 26 locations in Texas and 13 locations in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Hexane extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography. When the normalized chromatographic data w ere subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis, three clusters were seen. T wo contained only Texas samples, and the other contained southeastern Unite d States samples plus several Texas samples, possibly due to overlapping ra nges of the species. This method appears to have value as a chemotaxonomic technique for differentiation of mistletoes, but further study is warranted . Compounds that are independent of parasitic host, season, gender and meth od of collection must be carefully selected for use in speciation of mistle toe.