Multivariate analysis of edible Asparagus species in Iran by morphological characters

Abstract

Four wild Asparagus species including Asparagus officinalis L., A. persicus Baker, A. verticillatus L. and A. breslerianus Schult. & Schult. f. were collected from natural regions of Iran. Forty six morphological traits were investigated for all of these species. The results revealed that in edible wild Asparagus in Iran, spear appeared from early May (accession of Kerman-Jiroft) to late May (accession of Kurdestan-Bayanloo). The mature fruits (red fruits) were formed about July (accession of Semnan-Yazdoo) to September (other accessions). The number of seeds per fruit varied from one to six among species. The spear fresh weight was correlated with plant height (r = 0.61), internode length to the first branch (r = 0.59), length of primary branches (r = 0.72), number of secondary branches (r = 0.57), scale number (r = 0.74) and spear dry weight (r = 0.97). Results from the principal component analysis indicated that 92.30 % of the observed variability was explained by the first six components. The first two components explained about 45.90 % of the total observed variability. The first hierarchical cluster analysis mainly included accessions of two species A. officinalis and A. breslerianus and the second cluster mainly included A. persicus and A. verticillatus. Results of scatter plot supported the results of cluster analysis and species were distributed in two sides of scatter plot.