MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION OF CHERIMOYA LEAVES

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to characterize, from a morphometrical point of view, the leaves of nine selections and eight cultivars of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) and the differences existing in leaf characteristics. Nine-leaf samples were obtained per accession, they were digitalized and morphometric measurements were made with an image analyzer. Aside from correlation, principal components and cluster analyses were used to analyze the data. Leaf morphometric characters providing most discrimination were: leaf area and angle of the fifth vein (first principal component); index of roundmess and the radius axis/length axes ratio (second principal component); petiole length and number of veins (third principal component). These three first components accumulated 80 % of the total variation. Of the characters indicated, index of roundness, petiole length, and radius axis/length axis ratio did not show any type of correlation among them nor the other previous ones mentioned. From the analysis, it was possible to separate the cultivars and selections into six well defined groups, this suggested the existence of morphometric variability for the leaves of this species, and that this variability may be useful in differentiating germplasm, and, as a consequence, in the elaboration of descriptors.