Evaluation of genetic variation of performance in Satureja mutica and S. isophylla under dry farming in Damavand

Evaluation of performance was carried out in Satureja mutica Fisch &C.A, Meyand S.isophylla Rech, f. under dry farmingusing a 3 replicated randomized complete block design in Damavand, Iran. Significant differences were observed between the species for studied traits including plant dry weight, essence yield, canopy diameter, plant height, branch number and leaf length, with higher amounts for S.mutica. Also, accessions of S.mutica showed significant differences for essence yield, leaf width, leaf length, plant height and number of branches. Mean comparison indicated the highest essence content (3.86%) for one of the studied accession mu1Kh, the highest branch number for accession mu2Kh and the highest plant height and leaf length for accession mu3Gl. Also, significant positive correlations were observed between the traits, such as plant dry weight, with plant canopy diameter and branch number. Three components were resulted from principal components analysis, showing 95% of the total variation in which plant dry weight, essence content and plant canopy diameter were important, while in the second component leaf dimensions and in the third component, number of branches determined the most variation. According to cluster analysis, the accessions were classified into three groups. S. isophylla was located in a separate group. Also, accessions mu1Kh and mu2Kh of S .mutica were located in one group and accessions mu2Gl, mu3Gl and mu1Mz in another group. As a conclusion, mu1Khof S. mutica could be proposed for cultivation under dry farming conditions in Damavand.