| Variación morfológica de una población de Tillandsia biflora Ruiz & Pav. (Bromeliaceae) en un bosque altoandino de Venezuela (La Caña, Valle de San Javier, Edo. Mérida) (2003) | |||||||||
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| The assessment of the morphological variability of vascular plant species is crucial for a systematic treatment and necessary for the reliable delimitation of taxa. Particularly in tropical species, the incomplete sampling within their distribution areas often renders incorrectly the description of characters and their variability. In order to show the variability of morphological characters, the locally abundant epiphyte species Tillandsia biflora Ruiz & Pav. was selected and assessed in an area of 1.1 ha between 2300 and 3300 m a.s.l. in a successional and mature upper montane rain forest. A total of 150 flowering specimens was collected and 23 vegetative and generative characters were investigated. All characters showed a bell-shaped normal distribution with a wide range of values. This great variability requires a re-evaluation of the diacritical characters for the separation of T. biflora and the similar T. stipitata L. B. Sm. A comparison of plants from the successional and mature forest did not reveal significant differences. | |||||||||
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