Abstract:

174 samples of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour. ) Spreng. in nine populations were collected from Guangdong ,Guangxi , Hainan and Yunnan , China. Ten morphologic characteristics of these samples were then detennined , and the corresponding variance , correlation and cluster analyses were carried out. By using a mean Euclidean distance coefficient of 10 , Aquilaria sinensis (Lour. ) Spreng. was finally clustered into four groups. The results of variance analysis show that there is significant difference in morphologic characteristics within or hetween the populations ,and that the value of F is 6.520 - 13. 867 hetween the populations and 24.033 - 94.081 within the populations ,respectively. The mean variance portion within the populations , namely 52. 62%， demonstrates that the variation within the populations is mainly due to the phenotypic variation. The mean phenotypic differentiation coefficient ,namely 33. 38%， means that the diversity within the populations is higher than that hetween the populations. The multiple comparisons indicate that there is no significant difference in the variance coefficient and the relative range hetween the populations. Moreover , it is found that , among all geographic factors , altitude is the most important factor that affects the morphologic characteristics , followed hy the mean annual temperature and the annual precipitation.

Key words: herhal plant, Aquilari&alpha, sinensis (Lour. ) Spreng. , phenotypic diversity