Floristic analysis and biogeography of Tubiflorae in Egypt

The species distribution and biogeography of the Egyptian Tubiflorae were exam-ined in detail. We found 284 species of vascular plants belonging to 96 genera and 12 families, making the Egyptian Tubiflorae richer in species than that of other arid region floras: Libya and Saudi Arabia. The most species rich families were Scrophulariaceae, Boraginaceae, Labiatae, Convolvulaceae and Solanaceae, constituting more than 85% of the totál species in the order. The generic spectrum dominated by a suite of species-rich genera (Convolvulus, Heliotropium, Veronica, Solanum, Salvia, Cuscuta, Echium, Ipomoea and Orobanche). Therophytes were the most dominant life forms among the families, followed by chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes. Boraginaceae and Scrophulariaceae had the highest share of annuals. Remarkable distribution patterns of the life forms in the seven studied biogeographic zones were noticed. Trees were dominant in the Mediterranean zone, while shrubs, perennial herbs and therophytes were dominant in the Sinai. Altogether 8 endemic species and 14 near-endemics were included in the Tubiflorae of Egypt; mostly from Southern Sinai. We found that Labiatae and Scrophulariaceae were the families with higher concentration of endemics. Notably, Teucrium was among the genera of the Mediterranean Africa with highest endemism. Gamma diversity varied from 171 in the Sinai Peninsula to 43 and 39 in the Oases of the western Desert and along the Red Sea, respectively. Interestingly, highest significant values of similarity and species turnover (béta diversity) were observed between the Oases and the Nile lands. It is worthy noting the com-bined effect of both temperature and precipitation on gamma diversity of Tubiflorae in the 7 biogeographic zones. Our results indicated that almost one-half of the species showed a certain degree of consistency, i.e., with narrow geographic expansion. On the basis of UPGMA clustering and PCoA analysis, 4 floristic groups were recognized, each include one or more biogeographic zone. The occurrence of the species of Tubiflorae in the adjacent régiónál arid floras and their phytochorological afflnities, were discussed

The leaf architecture and its taxonomic significance in Capparaceae from Egypt

The paper deals with the leaf architecture of 19 species belonging to 7 genera (Capparis, Cadaba, Boscia, Maerua, Dipterygium, Cleome and Gynandropsis) of the family Capparaceae sensu lato (including Cleomaceae) from Egypt. A comprehensive description of leaf architecture for the studied taxa was provided, including venation pattern, areolation, and marginal ultimate venation. The venation pattern showed mostly pinnate brochidodromous or craspidododromous. Aeroles may be well or poorly developed. Taxonomically significant leaf features of the examined taxa showed great diversity in leaf or leaflet form, leaf surface, leaf base, leaf persistence, main venation pattern, secondary vein angle, inter secondary veins, number of veins on either side of midrib, free ending ultimate veins and marginal ultimate venation. A new free ending ultimate venation (F.E.V.S) branched with swollen ends was reported. On the basis of leaf architecture, we advocate the recognition of two separate families Capparaceae sensu lato and Cleomaceae. Multivariate analysis was carried out with the aim of solving some of the taxonomic problems existing in the family using 21 characters including 74 character states. Based on the comparison of leaf architecture, we supported the taxonomic treatment of the family Capparaceae. We supported retaining Gynandropsis gynandra as Cleome gynandra of the family Capparaceae, as it clearly nested within Cleome. Leaf architecture helped to distinguish all the species investigated and accordingly a key was provided for this purpose

Habitat heterogeneity and soil-vegetation relations in South of the Nile Delta, Egypt

Floristic composition and soil characters in representative habitats of the southern Nile Delta region in Qalyubia were analyzed in terms of habitat variations and species diversity. A total of 90 sites were surveyed and nineteen environmental factors were recognized in four main habitats : canal banks, cultivated lands, waste lands and sandy plains. Basic statistical treatments were established by using SPSS v. 10.0. The produced data were subjected to cluster analysis by using MVSP v. 3.1 ; indirect and direct ordination methods i. e. Detrended and Canonical Correspondence analyses, respectively by using CANOCO v. 4.5. A total of 164 species representing c. 7.7% of the Egyptian plant species were recorded and their life-form spectrum was identified. The majority of species were belonging to the families : Gramineae, Compositae, Leguminosae and Cruciferae. The floristic similarity between the recognized habitats showed a significant positive correlation between the canal banks and cultivated lands. Cynanchum acutum subsp. acutum, Cynodon dactylon, Phragmites australis and Pluchea dioscoridis were of high ecological amplitude. Three main vegetation groups (i. e. weeds, halo/ helophytes and xerophytes) were recorded, and their controlling ecological factors were identified. Ordination analysis reveled that, the three groups were well segregated along the DCA axis 1, and were highly related to calcium carbonates, fertility and species diversity gradients in addition to the gradient of human interference. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) produced a similar pattern to that of the floristic Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and revealed that, the weed plants (i. e. vegetation group A) were highly associated with organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, saturation percentage, potassium cations and pH ; the Halo/ Helophytic plants (group B) with bicarbonates, sulphates, calcium, magnesium and sodium ; the xerophetic plants (group C) with CaCO 3 and pH.Abd El-Ghani Monier, Abou-El-Enain Maged M., Aboel-Atta A.-I., Hussein Ethar A. Habitat heterogeneity and soil-vegetation relations in South of the Nile Delta, Egypt. In: Ecologia mediterranea, tome 37 n°1, 2011. pp. 53-68

Biosystematic Study on Some Egyptian Species of Astragalus L. (Fabaceae)

Astragalus L. is one of the largest angiosperm complex genera that belongs to the family Fabaceae, subfamily Papilionoideae or Faboideae under the subtribe Astragalinae of the tribe Galegeae. The current study includes the whole plant morphology, DNA barcode (ITS2), and molecular marker (SCoT). Ten taxa representing four species of Astragalus were collected from different localities in Egypt during the period from February 2018 to May 2019. Morphologically, identification and classification of collected Astragalus plants occurred by utilizing the light microscope, regarding the taxonomic revisions of the reference collected Astragalus specimens in other Egyptian Herbaria. For molecular validation, ten SCoT primers were used in this study, producing a unique banding pattern to differentiate between ten samples of Astragalus taxa which generated 212 DNA fragments with an average of 12.2 bands per 10 Astragalus samples, with 8 to 37 fragments per primer. The 212 fragments amplified were distributed as 2 monomorphic bands, 27 polymorphic without unique bands, 183 unique bands (210 Polymorphic with unique bands), and ITS2 gene sequence was showed as the optimal barcode for identifying Astragalus L. using BLAST searched on NCBI database, and afterward, analyzing the chromatogram for ITS region, 10 samples have been identified as two samples representing A. hauarensis, four samples representing A. sieberi, three samples representing A. spinosus and one sample representing A. vogelii. Based on the ITS barcode, A. hauarensis RMG1, A. hauarensis RMG2, A. sieberi RMG1, A. sieberi RMG2, A. sieberi RMG3, A. sieberi RMG4, A. spinosus RMG1, A. spinosus RMG2, A. spinosus RMG3, A. vogelii RMG were deposited into GenBank with accession # MT367587.1, MT367591.1, MT367593.1, MT367585.1, MT367586.1, MT367588.1, MT160347.1, MT367590.1, MT367589.1, MT367592.1, respectively. These results indicated the efficiency of SCoT markers and ITS2 region in identifying and determining genetic relationships between Astragalus species

Biosystematic Study on Some Egyptian Species of <i>Astragalus</i> L. (Fabaceae)

Astragalus L. is one of the largest angiosperm complex genera that belongs to the family Fabaceae, subfamily Papilionoideae or Faboideae under the subtribe Astragalinae of the tribe Galegeae. The current study includes the whole plant morphology, DNA barcode (ITS2), and molecular marker (SCoT). Ten taxa representing four species of Astragalus were collected from different localities in Egypt during the period from February 2018 to May 2019. Morphologically, identification and classification of collected Astragalus plants occurred by utilizing the light microscope, regarding the taxonomic revisions of the reference collected Astragalus specimens in other Egyptian Herbaria. For molecular validation, ten SCoT primers were used in this study, producing a unique banding pattern to differentiate between ten samples of Astragalus taxa which generated 212 DNA fragments with an average of 12.2 bands per 10 Astragalus samples, with 8 to 37 fragments per primer. The 212 fragments amplified were distributed as 2 monomorphic bands, 27 polymorphic without unique bands, 183 unique bands (210 Polymorphic with unique bands), and ITS2 gene sequence was showed as the optimal barcode for identifying Astragalus L. using BLAST searched on NCBI database, and afterward, analyzing the chromatogram for ITS region, 10 samples have been identified as two samples representing A. hauarensis, four samples representing A. sieberi, three samples representing A. spinosus and one sample representing A. vogelii. Based on the ITS barcode, A. hauarensis RMG1, A. hauarensis RMG2, A. sieberi RMG1, A. sieberi RMG2, A. sieberi RMG3, A. sieberi RMG4, A. spinosus RMG1, A. spinosus RMG2, A. spinosus RMG3, A. vogelii RMG were deposited into GenBank with accession # MT367587.1, MT367591.1, MT367593.1, MT367585.1, MT367586.1, MT367588.1, MT160347.1, MT367590.1, MT367589.1, MT367592.1, respectively. These results indicated the efficiency of SCoT markers and ITS2 region in identifying and determining genetic relationships between Astragalus species