The
problems
of
distinguishing
Pinus
patula
Schiede
and
Deppe
ssp.
tecunumanii
(Eguiluz
and
Perry)
Styles
from
P.
oocarpa
Schiede
in
mixed
natural
stands
in
Central
America
prompted
this
taxonomic
investigation
which
examines
relationships
within
and
between
provenances
of
the
two
taxa.
Orthodox
taxonomic
descriptions
are
shown
to
be
unsatisfactory
in
aiding
discrimination
between
them.
A
pilot
study
was
planned
using
200
trees
from
five
populations
of
20
trees
from
each
of
the
two
taxa.
Linear
discriminant
and
canonical
variable
analyses
of
fifteen
needle
and
cone
morphological
characters
(variables)
were
carried
out.
Seven
variables
were
found
to
contribute
significantly
to
a
discriminant
function
which
identified
trees
as
belonging
to
one
or
other
of
the
two
taxa
with
only
3010
mis-classified.
A
second
discriminant
function
which
used
only
easily
measurable
(non-microscopic)
variables
was
calculated;
this
separated
the
two
taxa
with
the
proportion
mis-classified
increasing
to
9.5010.
Canonical
variable
analysis
using
the
same
variables
as
in
the
first
discriminant
function
confirmed
the
presence
of
two
classes
(species)
and
showed
that
P.
patula
ssp.
tecunumanii
is
a
much
more
variable
taxon
than
P.
oocarpa.
Data
from
further
provenances
of
disputed
identity
were
then
included
in
the
analyses.
These
showed
that
the
following
provenances
in
the
CFI
International
Provenance
Trials
of
P.
oocarpa
are
in
fact
P.
patula
ssp.
tecunumanii:
Mountain
Pine
Ridge,
Belize;
San
Rafael,
'Yucul
and
Las
Camelias,
Nicaragua.
Mexican
provenances
of
P.
oocarpa
to
which
the
varietal
name
ochoterenae
Martinez
is
attached
are
also
clearly
classified
as
P.
patula
ssp.
tecunumanii.
Finally
analysis
of
data
from
two
provenances
of
P.
patula
are
presented.
This
suggests
that
the
citation
of
the
Tecun