Morphological and genetic variation of Chamaerops humilis (Arecaceae) in relation to the altitude

The Mediterranean dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis L.) is native to Western and Central Mediterranean. Since classical times this species has been cultivated and several varieties have been described on material of unknown origins. In this study, plants grown from seeds collected in the wild from seven populations spread along the Mediterranean basin were cultivated under the same environmental conditions, investigated morphologically and genetically by screening the polymorphism of ten SSR loci. Two groups are clearly separated, the populations growing at low altitudes and those living above a thousand meters of altitude. Due to morphological, geographic and environmental isolation, here it is proposed to discriminate the populations growing at high altitude on the Moroccan High Atlas and Anti-Atlas as a distinct subspecies.