Wood Anatomical Variations in the Genus <I>Elaeocarpus</I> Linn. and <I>Sloanea</I> Blume.

Abstract

The wood anatomical variations in eight species of Elaeocarpus and three species of Sloanea namely, E. aristatus Roxb., E. floribundus Blume, E. ganitrus Roxb. Syn. E. sphaericus Blume., E. lanceaefolius Roxb., E. rugosus Roxb., E. tectorius (Lour.) Poir. Syn.E. robustus Roxb., E. varunnaHam.E. walliehii Kurz., Sloanea dasyearpa (Benth.) Hemslsyn. Echinocarpus dasyearpa (Benth.) Hemsl, S. sigun K. Schum syn. Echinocarpus sigun (Bl.) K. Scham. and S. stereuliacea var. assamica (Benth.) Coode syn. Eehinocarpus assamicus Benth. were studied. There was some similarity like presence of parenchyma delimiting the growth rings, presence of prismatic crystals etc. in case of different species of Elaeocarpus; they were dissimilar for some other peculiar features like the different locations of prismatic crystals, presence or absence of spiral thickening and variation in quantitative characters. Species of Sloanea also showed dissimilarity among them on the basis of wood anatomical features. Quantitative variations were significant for species except for fiber-length and specific gravity and non significant for replications. It showed that different species of Elaeocarpus and Sloanea were dissimilar for wood element's dimensions. Cluster analysis was done using binary matrix of 202 wood features. Genera Elaeocarpus and Sloanea were clustered separately showing two divergent groups. Dichotomous key for eight species for Elaeocarpus was prepared for identification on the basis of wood anatomical features.