Morphometric or Numerical taxonomic analysis of 56 quantitative and
qualitative characters, obtained from
Musanga cecropioides
R. Brown and five species of
Myrianthus,
M. arboreus
Palisot de Beauvois,
M. holstii
Engler,
M. libericus
Rendle,
M. preusii
Engler and
M. serratus
(Trecul) Bentham was carried out by calculating similarity and distance
indices followed by cluster analysis and construction of a dendrogram for visual appreciation of
the taxonomic relationship among these species. The dendrogram showed close similarity
among the
Myrianthus species, with
Musanga cecropioides clearly distinct from the
Myrianthus
species. This confirms the monotypic status of
Musanga, with only one species,
Musanga
cecropioides.
