Evaluation of morphological diversity of leaf and fruit in natural populations of Pyrus glabra Boiss. in southern Zagros forests

To examine morphological variability of leaves and fruits of wild pear (Pyrus glabra) among different populations, leaf and fruit samples of 48 trees from four populations at altitude of 2150 m above sea level (Tange Sorkh), 2250 m (Vezg), 2450 m (Gorgo) and 2550 m (Mahparviz) located in Boyer Ahmad city, Iran, were collected. Then, 16 quantitative and qualitative leaf and fruit morphologic traits were recorded. Analysis of variance showed that among the studied parameters, lamina length, petiole length, lamina width at 0.1 and 0.9 of leaf lengths, maximum width of lamina, relative length of petiole, leaf shape, small and large diameter of fruit showed significant differences among the populations. Results of principal components analysis showed traits such as maximum width of lamina, lamina length, leaf dry weight, leaf tip angle, and leaf specific surface, played the most important role in grouping the genotypes and populations. In addition, leaf tip angle, leaf dry weight, and leaf surface had the highest coefficient of variation. Results of discriminate analysis showed that effective traits in isolation of the populations including leaf shape and fruit large diameter. Finally, leaf base shape, and large diameter of fruit remained unchanged resisting environmental changes (less variability) can be used as good traits to identify and separate genotypes of wild pear.