ISSN : 2663-2187

Morphological Characterization of Hawthorn Types (Crataegus spp.) Widespread in Northwestern Syria

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Rasha Obideen, Amin Alhasan, Rida Draie
» doi: 10.33472/AFJBS.6.8.2024.1058-1073

Abstract

This research was carried out in Idlib Governorate, located in northwestern Syria, between 2021 and 2022. The types of wild and cultivated hawthorn spread in the study area were identified and described. The results showed that there were significant differences between the types in most of the studied leaf characteristics (leaf length and width, lobulation depth, leaf area, and leaf wet and dry weight), as well as in flower characteristics (floral cluster length, number of flowers per cluster, and flower petiole length). The types varied in the characteristics of the fruit, whether quantitative (fruit length and width, fruit petiole length, and fruit size weight) or qualitative characteristics (color of the fruit) and in the seed characteristics (length, width, weight, and size of the seed). The correlation analysis table showed a high positive linear correlation between leaf area and leaf wet weight, between fruit size and fruit weight, and between seed size and seed diameter and weight. The results of the cluster analysis showed that the studied types are grouped into two main clusters. The first cluster includes 3 subgroups, while the second cluster includes one subgroup. Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that there were three main factors responsible for 100% of the variances between the types. The factor PC1 was responsible for 69.3%, the variables combined by PC2 were responsible for 17.3% of the variances, while the PC3 accounted for 13.4%. Finally, the study showed the spread of the Azarolus types mainly in the northwestern region of Syria, and to a lesser extent Monogyna, as well as the great relationship between the wild type Aronia and the cultivated types, Yellow Azarolus and Red Azarolus.

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