Study of growth and flowering characteristics of some Salix aegyptiaca L. accessions in Kurdistan province (Iran)

In this study, the growth and flowering characteristics of 10 accessions of Salix aegyptiaca L. grown in the collection of Kurdistan agricultural research center were assessed. The experiment was run in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The analysis of variances showed significant differences (P≤ 0.01) among accessions for characteristics such as tree height, collar diameter, catkin length, catkin length/width ratio, leaf length, leaf width, leaf length/width ratio, leaf area, petiole length and significant differences (P≤ 0.05) among accessions for angle of branches with trunk, length of annual shoot, catkin length width. Based on the results of correlation coefficients, there were significant positive correlations between leaf area and flowering characteristics (catkin length, width, fresh and dry weight). Moreover, there were significant negative correlations between tree height and catkin length and fresh weight. Cluster analysis of studied traits grouped accessions into three clusters. To determine the superior accessions, principal component analysis was used. Bi-plot was made based on the first two components which covered 70 percent of total variance and showed the accessions of K2, K3 and K6 were superior and could be recommended for landscape designing and breeding programs.