Cuticular leaf wax concentrations and distributions of common flora of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Deserts

Concentrations and molecular distributions of cuticular leaf wax normal-alkanes (n-alkanes) are presented from eighty-one desert species from twenty-six families. Species were collected from the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Deserts of western North America in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Species were characterized by their growth form, photosynthetic pathway, and as endemic or introduced. Leaf wax n-alkanes were extracted, isolated, identified, and quantified using a gas-chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector following Tipple et al (Forensic Science International, 2016, 262, 233-241). The average chain length and carbon preference index of n-alkanes were calculated. The purpose of this study was to compare leaf wax concentrations and distributions within and between plant families, growth forms, photosynthetic pathways, as well as, between native and introduced species.