A multivariate analysis of variation in Cineraria lobata L'Hér. and C. ngwenyensis Cron

AbstractCineraria lobata is a highly variable species centred in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa, with disjunct populations in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces. Morphological variation was examined in order to delimit the species and to determine whether recognition at infraspecific levels was warranted. Plants from the Ngwenya Hills, Swaziland, similar to C. lobata in leaf shape and size, but with glabrous cypselae and a distinct type of trichome, are recognized as a distinct, but closely related species, C. ngwenyensis. Cluster Analysis and Principal Coordinates Analysis supported the recognition of four subspecies in C. lobata: from the Western Cape (ssp. lobata), Karoo (ssp. lasiocaulis), Soutpansberg (ssp. soutpansbergensis) and Eastern Cape (ssp. platyptera) regions. Five forms of C. lobata ssp. lobata from the Western Cape are also informally recognised