Investigating Growth Traits Variation, Essential Oil Percentage and Ecological Characteristics of Different Anthemis Sepecies in Kurdistan Province (Iran)

Anthemis has 39 annual and perennial herbacius species that 15 species of them are from Iran. Iran has a good distribution of this medicinal plant. In this study, the growth characteristics, essential oil percentage and ecological features of five Anthemis species such as: (A. tinctoria), (A. hyalina), (A. wiedemanniana), (A. pseudocotula) and (A. haussknechtii) were evaluated for the first time, in order to better understand the characteristics of them in Kurdistan province. The collection of species was carried out at flowering time and 14 growth traits along with ecological characteristics of the habitat were studied. The results showed that there is variation in growth characteritics and essential oil percentage among the studied species. A. tinctoria and A. hyaline had the highest growth and yield. Essential oil percentage was from 0.02 to 0.15%, most of which was related to A. hyaline (0.15%) and A. setacea (0.08%), respectivly. Cluster analysis divided the species into two groups. According to the results of this study, A. hyaline due to the high growth, organs with contains active ingredient, and high amount of essential oil is superior and can be used in pharmaceutical, food and perfumery industry and breeding programs.