The Preliminary Study on the Morphological Variations and Morphological Types of Zoysia sinica in China

The 10 morphological variations and tendencies,and their correlationship and cluster analysis of 32 accessions of widely distributing Zoysia sinica which are of triennual growth or longer were studied.The result shows:1.The morphological characters change greatly among the accessions of Z.sinica,with the coefficient of variation of morphological index ranking first at 41.5%,followed by the turf height,leaf colour and length,with the coefficient of variation reaching 22.2%～22.6%.The coefficient of variation of internode length reaches 17.8%.However,the variation of internode thickness,of leaf,inflorescens,and spikelet lenght are limited.2.The higher latitude the Z. sinica is planted the longer grows its leaves,inflorescences,and reproductive branches,though the leaves turn palegreen and the stolons become less developed.The accessions in eastern China develop shorter internodes than those of the western part of China.3.The accessions with higher turf growth always boast higher reproductive branches,longer leaf blades,inflorescens,and spikelets;thought all this leads to thick internodes,palegreen leaves and less developed stolons.4.The accessions of Z. sinica could be divided into 3 morphological types by means of UPGMA,i.e.,dwarffine type,coarsethin type,and coarsedense type.The turf quality of the dwarffine is similar to that of the coarsedense type,but obviously better that the turf quality of the coarsethin type.