Leaf morphometric variation among the different natural sources ofCinnamomum zeylanicum Blume. in Uttara Kannada district

Abstract

Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume., native to Sri Lanka and the West coast region of India, belongs to the familyLauraceae.True cinnamon leaves are valuable NTFP and also used for the commercial extraction of essential oil. Theprotogynous dichogamy of the cinnamon flower is a natural adaptation for cross-pollination. An enormous diversity ofCinnamon has been produced by this special type of pollination behaviour. Thus, the current study aimed to determine theextent of morphological variation within and among the sources. The study was conducted during the period of 2020-22 atthe various sites in the Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka. Sixty phenotypically superior cinnamon trees were selectedamong the six different natural sources, for the evaluation of five leaf morphometric parameters. In this study, the dark greencoloured leaves were predominately expressed in all six sources and all tree had only green coloured petiole. Five types ofleaf shape viz., elliptic, oblong, ovate, ovate-elliptic and ovate lanceolate and four types of leaf apex (acuminate, acute, sub-acute and obtuse) were noticed among the six sources. Elliptic leaf shape and acuminate leaf tip was predominantlyexpressed. Leaf morphometric traits could be easily used to measure the magnitude of the diversity