Morpho-quantitative characteristics of cultivated musk yarrow (Achillea erba-rotta subsp. moschata)

Abstract

With the aim to evaluate several different accessions of the aromatic specie Achillea erbarotta subsp. moschata the morphological and quantitative characteristics of five cultivated accessions deriving from Trentino-Alto Adige (namely, ‘Rifugio Larcher al Cevedale’, ‘Passo Manghen’, ‘Città Morta’, ‘Monte Fregasoga’, and ‘Malga Valmaggiore’) were compared for three years in a field trial situated at the Viote of Monte Bondone (ca. 1500 m a.s.l.) Trento, Italy. The parameters data were recorded in the second and third years, since in the first year the plants were at vegetative stage. The percentage of missing plants was lower (7.5% on average) in the second, but highest in the third year of cultivation (58% on average). As regards the morphological parameters, the best results were obtained by the ‘Monte Fregasoga’ accession (56.7 stems per plant and 17.5 flowers per corymb, mean of two years), while the worst by the ‘Malga Valmaggiore’ (29.9 stems per plant and 13.5 flowers per corymb, mean of two years). In terms of yield, the same accessions produced 38.5-20.4 g and 8.9-5.6 g on average of fresh and dried flowering aerial part per plant, respectively. Two investigated accessions are suitable as the object of a breeding program, or even immediately for cultivation