Patterns of Selected Chemical Components of Spirodela oligorhiza formed under Various Conditions of Axenic Culture

RECENTLY, a number of investigations have been reported in which chromatographic patterns of extracts of plant material have been applied to systematic problems 1 . Usually, the absolute reliability of the pattern as a criterion of genetic similarity or difference has been questionable because of the extreme difficulty in equating all ecological influences, some of which may modify, quantitatively or even qualitatively, the compounds accumulated by a particular genotype. Thus, the validity of specific differences which have been observed must be established empirically in each instance, and in fact the evaluation must unavoidably be conservative in nature, that is, only the most outstanding differences in chromatographic patterns can be utilized in a taxonomic evaluation.