Authors:Rane A.D. Viswanath S. Sheshshayee M.S. Sawardekar S.V
Abstract:Dendrocalamus stocksii is a commercial, domesticated and endemic bamboo species of Western Ghats, India. This non-seeding, vegetatively propagated species is geographically distributed between 12o to 17.5o North latitudes. A survey was conducted to understand the morphological variation for culm and clump characters along its geographical region. A total of 100 clumps (locations) were randomly evaluated in this region and these identified accessions were grouped into ten populations based on their latitude and longitude values. These ten populations varied for clump and culm characters with number of old culms positively influencing culm recruitment (r=0.509**). Among these demarcated populations, Sirsi population had comparatively better culm diameter and internode lengths followed by Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg populations. The clumps selected from Chandgad region were solid upto 7.06 m from the base while rest of the populations had solid clumps ranging between 3 to 5 m from the base. Height of solidness in culms was positively correlated with culm diameter to culm wall thickness ratio (0.391**) and latitude (0.319*), while, annual precipitation negatively influenced height of culm solidness (-0.246*). ISSR assisted diversity analysis augmented populations clustered according to their morphological and geographical variations.
Keywords:Dendrocalamus stocksii, Population, morphology,culm, clump, genetic variation