Morphological characterisation of populations of Desmanthus virgatus complex from Argentina (original) (raw)

The Argentine germplasm of the Desmanthus virgatus complex is a valuable group of legume species for animal production. However, little is known about the extent and nature of the variability of these species. This study, which is an introduction to further ones about the variability of these species, aims at: a) collecting representative germplasm; b) analysing the morphological diversity; and c) determining patterns in Argentine populations of potential forage species of the D. virgatus complex using PCA and cluster methods. Twentysix populations of D. virgatus, D. acuminatus and D. paspalaceus collected in Argentina plus cv. Marc were used to evaluate 14 quantitative morphological characters. Collecting expeditions, examination of material collected and analyses of measurements permitted the first characterisation of the morphological diversity and determination of the patterns of variation of species with forage value within the Argentinian D. virgatus complex. Identifying trait...