Identificatin of Native Typha species in Australia

Abstract

The variability of some key characters used to identify the two Australian species of Typha (T. domingensis and T. orientalis) was quantitatively determined on 13 stands at different sites. Characters measured were plant height, leaf width, length of female inflorescence, diameter of female inflorescence and gap between male and female inflorescences. The three characters, length of female inflorescence, diameter of female inflorescence and gap between the inflorescences, used in conjunction with the latent vector from a canonical variates analysis could be used to identify the two species. The presence or absence of an auriculated leaf sheath was also found to be a useful character, while leaf shape was not. However, to obtain absolute identification, chromosome numbers can be determined easily on root tips.