Investigation of phenetic relationships among selected genera of the family Malvaceae based on morphological characteristics

Objective: Members of the family Malvaceae exhibit considerable morphological diversity and include numerous species of medicinal and economic importance. Vegetative and reproductive characteristics provide valuable information for taxonomic identification and numerical taxonomic comparison. The present study aimed to document the micro-and macro-morphological variation among selected Malvaceae taxa, identify diagnostically important characteristics, and evaluate their phenetic relationships using multivariate morphological analyses.Materials and Methods: Fifteen species representing seven genera of Malvaceae were collected from the Western Ghats of Maharashtra and the Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University campus, Amravati. Fresh and herbarium specimens were examined for 63 vegetative and reproductive morphological characteristics. Multistate characteristics were converted into a binary species × character data matrix. Phenetic relationships were evaluated using the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) based on the Jaccard similarity coefficient, while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to assess patterns of morphological variation and differentiation among the studied taxa.Results: UPGMA analysis separated the 15 taxa into two major phenetic clusters and associated subclusters, with similarity coefficients ranging from approximately 0.450 to 0.975. Distinct intrageneric affinities were observed among species of Abutilon, Sida, and Abelmoschus, while Malvaviscus penduliflorus showed morphological affinity with Hibiscus species. Sabdariffa cannabina and Malachra capitata formed a comparatively distinct subgroup. The PCA further demonstrated multidimensional morphological differentiation among the taxa. PC1, PC2, and PC3 accounted for 16.748%, 12.075%, and 11.675% of the total variance, respectively, collectively explaining 40.50% of the morphological variation. The close positioning of species within Abutilon, Sida, and Abelmoschus in the PCA ordination further supported their intrageneric morphological affinities.Conclusion:The study demonstrates that combined vegetative and reproductive morphological characteristics are useful for distinguishing Malvaceae taxa and assessing their phenetic relationships. UPGMA and PCA provided complementary evidence of both intrageneric affinity and intergeneric morphological differentiation. The resulting groups represent patterns of morphological similarity rather than evolutionary lineages. Integration of the present morphological dataset with molecular evidence and broader taxon sampling may provide a more robust assessment of systematic relationships within Malvaceae.