Short Communication: Leaf architectural analysis of taxonomically confusing coffee species: Coffea liberica and Coffea liberica var. dewevrei

Abstract

Abstract. Baltazar AMP, Buot JrIE. 2019. Short Communication: Leaf architectural analysis of taxonomic confusing coffee species: Coffea liberica and Coffea liberica var. dewevrei. Biodiversitas 20: 1560-1567. Coffee is considered as one of the most important crops. The Philippines is known to produce four coffee varieties namely: Arabica (Coffea arabica), Robusta (Coffea canephora), Excelsa (Coffea liberica var. dewevrei) and Liberica (Coffea liberica). Further, the taxonomy of C. liberica and C. liberica var. dewevrei is still unclear. Since its earliest publication, the relationship of the two taxa have been confusing many taxonomists and also farmers. The status of the two confusing taxa are still under discussions due to contradicting evidence inferred from morphological and molecular data. The two taxa have been claimed as separated species but the markers are considered inconsistent in the field. This study has tried to examine the leaf architectural characters of both species as these have been known to be genetically fixed. Leaf samples of each species including C. canephora (outgroup) were collected and examined. Results showed that the two taxa were found to be different in laminar size, domatia distribution, major secondary attachment, and intercostal tertiary veins. Cluster analysis revealed that they are grouped separately. However, the rank of C. liberica var. dewevrei cannot be decided yet until further taxonomic study, particularly on the anatomy and distribution pattern of domatia, is completed.

Short Communication: Leaf architectural analysis of confusing Syzygium species: Syzygium aqueum (Burm.f.) Alston and Syzygium samarangense (Blume) Merr. & L.M.Perry (Myrtaceae)

“…Even with limited dissimilar characters, the analysis showed that all species exhibit variability in the laminal and venation characters, and thus are distinct from one another. The study agreed with the findings of Roth-Nebelsick et al (2001) and many others (Buot 2020;Paguntalan and Buot 2019;Baltazar and Buot 2019a;Baltazar and Buot 2019b;Baltazar and Buot 2019c) that leaf architectural characters are genetically fixed and hence, can be used favorably in taxonomic studies, especially when dealing with controversial taxa as S. aqueum and S. samarangense.…”

The re-emergence of Liberica coffee as a major crop plant

“…dewevrei 17,46 . Morphological and molecular data 37,42,[47][48][49] support the recognition of two varieties for C. liberica: var. liberica and var.…”

“…The apt epithet 'excelsa' has persisted and is still the most widely used common name for var. dewevrei 17,36,37,[47][48][49] . Excelsa is used in the remaining narrative for var.…”

Analisis Pengaruh Variasi Waktu Terhadap Karakteristik Proses Pemanggangan Biji Kopi Liberika

“…Kopi Liberika merupakan nama lain dari kopi Excelsa yang sekarang lebih popular [7]. Namun peneliti lain menyatakan bahwa Liberika dan Excelsa keduanya digolongkan sebagai kopi Liberoid yang memiliki karakteristik yang berbeda [8], [9].…”