Source variation in fruit, seed and seedling traits of Hippophae salicifolia

Abstract

Hippophae salicifolia D.Don is a deciduous tree species restricted to the Himalayan region. It is a important medicinal plants with multiple benefits. Source variation tests are necessary to screen the naturally available genetic variation to select the best planting material for higher productivity. In this study, an effort has been made to evaluate the extent of variation among the seed sources with respect to different fruit, seed and seedling traits.

The seeds of H. salicifolia were collected from twelve seed sources. Initially fruits and seeds were measured for length, width and 100 seed weight. Seed germination test involved 4 replications of randomly selected 25 seeds each, from the working sample. The present investigation reports the variation in fruit, seed and seedling characters of Hippophae salicifolia.  The maximum fruit length (7.15 mm), fruit width (6.25mm), seed length (5.20 mm), seed width (2.83 mm) and 100 seed weight (2.83 g) were observed in S₉ seeds source of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.  Germination percentage was also highest in  S₉ (96.25 %). Length of radicle (2.30 cm) and plumule (4.43 cm) also showed maximum values in S₉. According to present study, the seed source (S₉ ) probably can be recommended for large scale plants production of the species from this locality for afforestation programme and for further breeding work.