Variation and taxonomy of Fritillaria graeca ( Liliaceae) in Greece.

The geographic variation in Fritillaria graeca, an endemic of Greece, is explored, using multivariate techniques. Eleven morphological features were measured in each of 630 individual plants from 38 localities throughout the range of the species. Scheffe's a posteriori test revealed an almost continuous geographic variation and did not identify groups clearly. Discriminant analysis of the groups derived from an F significance test of Mahalanobis distance resulted in five major groups on the first two discriminant axes representing the subspecies graeca, ionica, guicciardii, thessala and its var. othria. A diagnostic key to the F. graeca subspecies is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]