Assessing Leaf Morphometric Symmetry of Four Chinese Quercus Species in a Mixed Forest

(1) Background: Oaks have achieved notoriety for sufficient levels of sympatric species richness allowing hybridization, thus generating substantial phenotypic variation. Leaf fluctuation asymmetry is an important attribute, as it reflects not only genetic variability but also buffering capacity. (2) Methods: We investigated the diversity four-oak (Quercus acutissima, Q. variabilis, fabri, and serrata var. brevipetiolata) using leaf geometric morphometric analysis. Eight morphological indicators (length, width, perimeter, area, left right areas, areal ratio, normalized symmetry index) were used to determine hybridization level, whereas bilateral assess environmental adaptation; (3) Results: Phenotypic variation ranged from 1.54 29.35 folds significantly diverged among studied species. Taxonomically in Section Quercus (Q. fabri are lower than those Cerris acutissima variabilis) with good symmetry. The index variabilis had a larger range variation, indicating better adaptability; (4) Conclusions: presume that less high level heterozygosity; however, this assumption requires further verification. observed combination factors.