Variation in Gametophytic and Sporophytic Features among Three Disjunct Populations of Funaria hygrometrica

The paper reveals the variation of gametophytic and sporophytic in three different populations of Funaria hygrometrica collected from Shillong, Srinagar and Darjeeling. The morphology, dimensional parameters and ornamentation of spores are significant in delimitating the taxa in Funaria. ANOVA test showed significant differences in the length of stem length, leaf length&breath, basal and apical cell size, length of seta, length of capsule, exostome and endostome length, polar axis and equatorial diameter of spores. The PCA graph of composite data shows clear segregation among three samples from three locations. Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed the correlation between climatic factors and morphometric parameters. This study establishes that dimensional aspects should not be considered always for species identification and spore ornamentation should be considered along with other morphological features for species identification.