Abstract:In order to explore excellent germplasm resources of Moringa trees, leaf phenotypic characters of 30 excellent single plant families were studied. The results showed that except of leaf shape, there were significant differences among families in petiole color, leaf color, compound leaf number, length and diameter of compound leaf petiole, compound leaf spacing, length and width of leaf. The compound leaf number was significant positive correlation with length and diameter of compound leaf petiole, compound leaf spacing, length and width of leaf. Principal component analysis showed that length and width of leaf, length and diameter of compound leaf petiole, compound leaf spacing, petiole and leaf color were important indicators for identifying these families. Based on the 8 leaf phenotypic traits, 30 families of Moringa could be divided into 3 categories by cluster analysis, there was far genetic distance among families which had significant differences in leaf phenotypic traits. Therefore, petiole and leaf color, compound leaf number, compound leaf petiole length and diameter, compound leaf spacing, leaf length and width would provide a reference for identifying Moringa families.
