A thin-layer chromatographic study of the phenolics of the genus Aegilops. I. Numerical chemotaxonomy of the diploid species
A two-dimensional thin-layer chromatographic study of the phenolics of young leaves provided the means for a numerical chemotaxonomic study of the diploid species of the genus Aegilops L. A great amount of variation in types and concentration of these compounds was found within A. squarrosa. Var. anathera, typica, and meyeri, of the ssp. eusquarrosa, were more related to ssp. strangulata than to each other. However, since the subspecies are morphologically distinct, their present taxonomic position should be retained. A. comosa was distinguishable from all other species by the presence of a violet fluorescing compound, while A. mutica was distinct from the others by the presence of a blue and a yellow fluorescing compound. Members of the Sitopsis section exhibited a high degree of similarity in composition of phenolic compounds. Based on phenolic contrast, A. umbellulata should be placed in a section apart from A. caudata while the rest of the diploid species should remain as presently classified. All Aegilops species were distinctly different from T. aegilopoides and T. monococcum and should be retained as separate generic entities.