GENETIC VARIATION OF FRUIT TRAITS AMONG NATURAL POPULATIONS OF TERMINALIA PANICULATA ROTHIN SOUTHERN WESTERN GHATS, PENINSULAR INDIA

A reconnaissance survey was conducted in Southern Western Ghats, India to identify the wild populations of Terminalia paniculata. From the explorative survey, 16 natural populations from different localities of the study area were identified. Collected 36 fruits from each tree and fruit trait quantification of total 3456 fruits (36 x 16 x 6) from 16 populations were used for the study. Hierarchical clustering of selected populations and correlations among fruit traits and between tree traits and fruit traits visualised using a dendrogram. The results indicated significant differences in fruit traits like fruit fresh mass, fruit large wing length and fruit large wing width. Clustering of fruit characters for all the accessions revealed the genetic relatedness between accessions. It reveals that selected populations of T. paniculata belong to two major clusters and confirms that 16 populations are either adjacent or distant in-terms of fruit traits are independent of the geographical station. The relationship between fruit traits indicates a significant positive correlation between fruit traits ranging from 0.352 to 0.739. Even though fruit traits show significant correlation within, a non-significant and very week correlation was obtained with tree stand-up traits except tree girth with fruit large wing length (21.4 %).