Evaluation of seed yield in some ecotypes of three Lallemantia species

Lallemantia Fisch. et Mey. is one of the most important medicinal plant genera in Iran, which is highly demanded by Iranian people due to its health benefits. This study was aimed at regenerating and domesticating some wild ecotypes of Lallemantia spp. species. The seeds of nine ecotypes from L. royleana (Benth.) Benth., five ecotypes from L. iberica (M.Bieb.) Fisch. & C.A. Mey., and five ecotypes from L. peltata (L.) Fisch. & C.A.Mey. were prepared from the Natural Resources Gene Bank, Iran and planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research farm of Qazvin Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Iran in 2018. The studied traits included total plant dry weight, seed yield, plant height, plant canopy diameter, and phenological traits including days to flowering and days to seed ripening. The ANOVA between the species was performed first, then the nested ANOVA between the ecotypes within each species. The means comparison of different traits among the ecotypes within each species was done using the Tukey method. In this study, the ecotypes were divided into three separate clusters based on the cluster analysis and biplot diagram. The cluster1 ecotypes belonging to L. iberica had higher seed yield than the other two ones. In L. iberica, the highest seed weight belonged to the ecotype ‘Azadshahr’ (4.5 g plant-1) with an estimated yield of 375 kg ha-1. Finally, the superior class a ecotypes were identified in terms of seed yield and put in the process of seed propagation and certification.