Morphological Variations of genus Polypogon in Iran

Polypogon (Poaceae), a Mediterranean - Southwest Asian genus with about 18species in world and 4 species in Iran is a common adventive genus of openhabitats. These halophytic or glycophytic species grow in moist areas of differenthabitats of Iran. These species grow in lrano- Turanian and Saharo-Sindian regionsin Iran. In this study. accessions of Polypogon were collected from its distributionregions in Iran. There are difficulties in recognition of some Polypogon species bytraditional identification keys. Biometrical analysis was done using 46 quantitativeand qualitative morphological characters from which 13 characters were ofdiagnostic values. Characters such as glume apex. hairs frequency and shape. spikecompactness and ligule shape were main diagnostic features of this genus in Iran.An identification key based on evaluated characters by factor analysis and principlecomponent analysis was provided and species affinities were evaluated