Evaluation of morphological diversity of some populations of anemone (Anemone spp. L.) in Iran

Anemone (Anemone spp. L.) as an ornamental geophyte originates and grows naturally in Iran that has great ornamental potential. Despite the wide distribution of a large number of accessions of anemone in Iran, the characterization and assessment of the existing diversity of Iranian anemone germplasm at the morphological level as the initial step in describing germplasm have received little attention. In this study, to evaluate the morphological diversity, 26 anemone populations (250 accessions; Anemone coronaria L. and Anemone biflora DC.) were collected from different regions of Iran, including Ilam, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Khuzestan, Hamedan, Kurdistan and Khorasan Razavi provinces. Traits such as stem height, flower number, flower bud number, flower diameter, petiole length, involucral leaf number, number of petals, number of leaves, number of stamens, and length and width of petals were used to study morphological diversity. The natural accessions were collected during their flowering time. The results indicated that there was a wide range of variation in different populations of the anemone. The highest values of variation (79.33%) were attributed to the number of flower buds varied from 0 to 4. The lowest variation (0.97%) was belonged to the number of involucral leaves, which was recorded as 3 involucral leaves for most populations. A low level of phenotypic variation (4.38%) was detected among the populations for petals number, as a commercial character ranged from 4 to 9. Based on the results, the tallest plants with large flowers and many buds were recorded in population A (Ilam 1). Based on results, number of petals was positively correlated with petal length, petal width, leaf number, and stamen number while it was negatively correlated with number of open flowers. In the first main component, which accounted for 45.7% of the total variation, it was correlated with perianth traits. In the second main component, which explained 17.6% the total variation, the reproductive traits had the highest value. The dendrogram created using cluster analysis grouped the populations into four major clusters with different characteristics. Cluster analysis could not differentiate populations by species or geographical area. The current finding showed that natural population A (Ilam 1), G (Ilam 7), I (Kermanshah 1) and F (Ilam 6) had a unique flower size, stem length, flower number and leaf number that can be selected as the superior populations. In conclusion, the populations collected as a rich genetic source will be useful for ex-situ conservation and utilization in breeding programs of anemone.