A revision of European taxa of Hyacinthoides section Somera (Hyacinthaceae) on the basis of multivariate analysis

Cluster analysis and principal components analysis were used to investigate patterns of morphological variation among specimens of European species of sect. Somera of the genus Hyacinthoides (Hyacinthaceae). The results are c learly consistent with the existence of four species (H. italica, H. paivae , H. reverchonii and H. mauritanica). It is proposed that the latter be con sidered to comprise two subspecies, H. mauritanica subsp. mauritanica and H . mauritanica subsp. vincentina (comb. nov.). A key is presented, together with distribution maps for the five taxa.