Research Training Program

Elizabeth Obee
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA

Vicki Funk, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Department of Botany

"This was a very important experience."

Populational variation in Werneria nubigena

The objective of this project was to redescribe the species Werneria nubigena and examine populational variation by measuring characters on herbarium samples. This project was part of a larger revision of the genus Weneria. The information obtained was analyzed using SAS on the mainframe. A principal component analysis, discriminant function analysis, and cluster analysis were obtained. This data indicated that there are some geographical trends in the variation in the species, although the overall variation is continuous. The variation in one area blends right into that from another area. This analysis also found the species W. stubelii to be distinct from W. nubigena, although it may be considered a variety of W. nubigena based on physical similarities. After latitude, longitude, and elevation are taken into consideration, this data will be ready for publication.

This research was supported by a grant from the James Smithson Society.