Previous studies on M. sellowiana from four different plant physiognomies in Paraná state, Brazil, have shown that the leaves of this species have great morphological plasticity. This work continues the study on the morphological plasticity of the species, using the following characteristics of leaf architecture as indicators: area, dry weight, specific dry weight, thickness, angle, length, diameter, percent mechanical tissue, and petiole volume, venation density, and distance between veins. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first two components explained 78% of total variance. Principal component 1 (PC1), represented by leaf angle, petiole length, dry weight, specific dry weight, venation density, and the ratio of the distance of the midrib to the second vein/leaf area, explained 56.06%, while principal component 2 (PC2), mainly represented by leaf area, explained 12.62% of total variance. PC1 showed two distinct groups, one formed by plants from Araucaria Forest and Dense Montane Forest, and the other by plants from Dense Upper-Montane Forest and Grassland. For PC2, the distribution is more homogenous among the plants of the four physiognomies. PCA suggests that the same mesomorphicxeromorphic gradient found in previous studies of M. sellowiana is present, showing that the morphological attributes observed herein are also plastic, responding to distinct abiotic conditions among the plant physiognomies.
forests; leaf morphology; venation density
