Data Matrix and Cladogram Construction

The five selected plant species were used by the biology students at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa Manila to generate a cladogram. A taxon that has been studied but logically isn't a member of the ingroup was the outgroup that the student researchers chose. A cladogram is a visual depiction of the relationships between various groupings of organisms. It is used to determine species evolutionary relationships in phylogenetic analysis. It is an illustration of a phylogenetic analysis in which only the topography of the diagram matters (it is not scaled). It is a simple graphic that describes a pattern of characteristics shared by multiple different organisms, however it is missing a time axis. The five taxa that were selected are T1 (Ruellia humilis), 12 (Digitaria ciliaris), T3 (Tridax procumbens), T4 (Mimosa pudica), and TS (Cyanthillium cinerume), and the outgroup that was selected is none other than TO (Horsetails), or, to put it another way, that is the ancestor. The arrangement of the roots and leaves are the two selected somatic or vegetative features. Flower symmetry, stamen, and ovary are the chosen sexual/reproductive features if a particular taxon shares the same traits with the outgroup will be examined in the sections that follow.