<![CDATA[Abstract. Suparman, Bahtiar, Septiani P, Lukman L, Nur TD, Ilmi ZL. 2026. Morphological and leaf epidermal analyses of banana (Musa spp.) cultivars from Ternate for biosystematic characterization. Biodiversitas 27 (8): d270820. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d270820. Banana (Musa spp.) exhibits high morphological diversity, yet cultivar characterization remains challenging due to environmental influences on external traits. This study applies morphometric analyses complemented by leaf epidermal anatomical observations to characterize banana cultivars from Ternate Island, Indonesia. Fourteen cultivars were characterized using 50 morphological descriptors and analyzed through UPGMA clustering and principal component analysis (PCA). Leaf epidermal traits, including stomatal size, stomatal index, and epidermal cell morphology, were examined using the cyanoacrylate replica method. Morphology-based UPGMA clustering and PCA revealed three major phenetic groups (PC1: 40.392%, PC2: 22.227%); these relationships represent phenetic patterns based on morphological variation and have not been genetically validated. Characters with relatively high PCA loadings included pseudo-stem color, male bud shape, fruit morphology, and petiole canal structure. Leaf epidermal traits, particularly stomatal variation and differences in epidermal cell morphology, provided complementary descriptive information for cultivar characterization alongside conventional macromorphological traits. The inclusion of the locally recognized Pisang Boki cultivar expands the previous cultivar inventory reported for North Maluku and further highlights the underdocumented diversity of local banana germplasm. Overall, morphological analyses provided the primary basis for phenetic grouping, while leaf epidermal observations contributed complementary descriptive information for biosystematic assessment of Musa cultivars. However, broader sampling and molecular validation are required to further evaluate cultivar relationships and the consistency of epidermal traits across cultivars.]]>
