Morphological variations in Seeds of populus euphratica Oliv. originated from different provenances

Populus euphratica Oliv. is a native species in arid and semi arid zone of Iran distributing naturally in vast areas. The geographical and climatic differences led to morphological and genetic differences in this widely distributed species. Morphological characteristics of seeds might play an important role in genetic variation of Populus euphratica Oliv. In this study tree seeds of seven habitats of Populus euphratica were compared. For this reason, sampling was taken from seeds originated from different provenances for eight years in the experimental field of Alborz research center in the same environmental conditions. Five morphological Seed traits such as seed length, seed width, number of seed in any capsule, 1000 seed weight and the ratios of seed length to seed width, as well as germination percentage were measured. Results showed that there is significant difference between the provenances. Among seed traits, length and width of seeds were the most important factors in intraspecific differentiation of Populus euphratica Oliv.