An assessment of morphological genetic variations and heritability of Iranian fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) accessions

In order to assess the genetic variations in Iranian fennel accessions, an experiment on15 fennel ones including 13 Iranian and two foreign ones were carried out in randomized block design with three replicates. According to analysis of variance significant differences were observed among all studied traits. Most of the traits showed moderate to high heritability (90%) except for the number of the days up to 50% appearance. Seed yield had positive correlation with number of lateral shoots. The first factor in factor analysis explained 83% of variation. Number of lateral shoots, wet weight, dry weight and seed yield had the highest value in the second Eigen, while in the third one plant height, inflorescence diameter and seed length showed the highest values. Cluster analysis classified 15 fennel accessions in four groups that showed high differences in seed yield, day of ripening and plant height. Furthermore, most of accessions were grouped based on their geographical and climatic conditions. Therefore, it would be possible to cross the elite genotypes from different clusters and select the best ones in order to introduce new cultivars with appreciable agronomic traits.