Study on the Morphological Diversity of Wild Bermudagrass Accessions in Anhui

Ten morphological characteristics of 150 bermudagrass accessions originated from five regions in Anhui province were observed and analyzed to explore their diversity and to screen elite turfgrass germplasms for breeding.The results showed that:(1)There were abundant morphological variation among wild bermudagrass accessions.The variation coefficients ranked as follows:stolon leaf length(36.004%) height of the erect shoot(35.827%)internode length of the erect shoot(35.087%) leaf length of the erect shoot(34.288%)internode diameter of the erect shoot(27.760%) height of leaf layer(26.962%)stolon internode diameter(22.256%)stolon leaf width(19.280%) leaf width of the erect shoot(17.779%).(2)There were significant correlations among some of morphological characters of wild bermudagrass accessions in Anhui.The plant height was positively correlated with leaf length,leaf width,internode length,etc.;(3)the result of Principal Component Analysis(PCA) indicated that plant organ's height and width should be first considered in identifying wild bermudagrass external vegetative morphological characteristics;(4)based on 10 morphological characteristics,accessions were clustered into five morphological types,i.e.tall long-leaf type,coarse-high type,intermediate type,fine-middle type,dwarf-fine type.