The basic aim of the present study therefore was to quantify the morphological and anatomical differences within and between populations of this complex from the central and western parts of the Balkan Peninsula (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia), and to determine whether there are, in fact, clear morphological differences between these populations.
For these purposes, several multivariate statistical analyses (PCA - principal component analysis, CDA - canonical discriminant analysis, clustering UPGMA analysis based on Mahalanobis distances, and CA - correspondence analysis) of vegetative and generative plant organs have been carried out.
The morpho-anatomical analysis of 704 individuals from 44 populations has confirmed that there are several morphologically distinct groups of populations in the central Balkans, between which no strict morphological discrimination exists. Some of these distinct groups of populations correspond to taxa E. caricinus Schott, Nyman, & Kotschy, E. montenegrinus Horak, E. jugoslavicus Laku拧i膰 and E. vesovicii R. Laku拧i膰, while others were identified for the first time in this study.