Morphological characterization and varietal evaluation of Alstroemeria genotypes

Abstract

Abstract For the establishment of distinctness among the Alstroemeria genotypes, 35 morphological characters and 16 vegetative and flowering parameters were studied for two years (2019–2021) and the results were condensed in the form of draft guidelines. The study came to the conclusion that the vast variability in various vegetative and floral qualities among the sixteen genotypes of Alstroemeria offered a fantastic chance to choose the genotypes that were suitable for all economic features. With regards to performance of genotypes, ‘UHFSAlst 1’, ‘UHFSAlst 3’, ‘UHFSAlst 4’, ‘UHFSAlst 5’, ‘UHFSAlst 11’, ‘UHFSAlst 29’, ‘UHFSAlst 33’ and ‘UHFSAlst 41’ performed better in terms of economical parameters. The novel colour was observed in ‘UHFSAlst 1’, ‘UHFSAlst 11’, ‘UHFSAlst 40’ (magenta pink), UHFSAlst 3’, ‘UHFSAlst 5’, ‘UHFSAlst 29’ (dark purple), ‘UHFSAlst 33’, ‘UHFSAlst 41’ (variegated). ‘UHFSAlst 29’, ‘UHFSAlst 5’, and ‘Serena’ recorded the maximum observed plant height. Genotype ‘UHFSAlst 4’ was shortest in height. In terms of flower size, a large diameter of flower was observed in ‘UHFSAlst 29’ and ‘UHFSAlst 1’ has maximum stem thickness. The findings led to the conclusion that the morphological DUS descriptor is very effective in classifying genotypes into distinct groups for each attribute. The diversity of the genotypes can be further leveraged for trait-specific breeding programmes through a systematic and scientific method, according to the variance at the morphological level.