Background:

Based on morphological characters of leaves, flowers and fruits, new species of the Magnolia mexicana complex have been segregated in Mexico. Due to its evolutionary, ecological and medicinal use importance, it is relevant to analyze the morphological variation and to know the current status of the M. mexicana populations in its area of distribution.

Questions:

Is there differentiation in the morphology of the leaves, flowers and fruits in the populations of M. mexicana? What is the current status of the M. mexicana populations?

Studied species:

Magnolia mexicana (DC.) G. Don (Magnoliaceae).

Study site and dates:

The study was carried out in six populations of M. mexicana in the Sierra Madre Oriental, between May and October 2019 and 2020.

Methods:

480 leaves, 240 flowers and 84 fruits were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyzes.

Results:

The first main components explained 85, 69 and 68 % of the foliar, floral and fruit variation, respectively; and the first 2 discriminant functions 82, 66 and 94 % of said variation. The morphological characters with the greatest variation were: petiole and middle vein diameter, stamens number, carpel width, and seed length and width.

Conclusions:

The variation range in M. mexicana morphological characteristics was wider than that documented in the original description of the species. The populations are isolated and present low density, and high morphological differentiation among themselves; particularly in flowers and fruits, so their taxonomic identity requires to be corroborated at the genetic level.

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