Patterns of leaf epicuticular waxes in species of Clusia:: Taxonomical implications

The genus Clusia L. (Clitsiaceae) encompasses ca. 300 species and occurs from southern USA and Mexico, to southern Brazil and Bolivia. It includes free-standing trees and shrubs, hemiepiphytes, epiphytes, and lianas. Taxonomic analysis of this genus is difficult because of the poor preservation of floral material after drying. This work explores the composition of epicuticidar waxes ill order to allow characterization, at the species level, using chemical markers. The six species analyzed could be separated using the relative quantity of hexane-soluble compounds extractable horn the leaf surface, which amount to >90% in Clusia rosea, C. orthoneura, and C. minor, the presence of the triterpenes alpha-amyrin and lupeol ill C. multiflora, and of friedelin and taraxerol, together with C33 and C35, in C. grandiflora and C. schomburgkiana. The results suggest that the relative proportions of alkanes and triterpenoids ill epicticular waxes rnay have taxonomic significance for separating species or infrageneric sections.