MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS OF MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS IN SETARIA-LEIANTHAHACKEL

Continuous characters related to plant morphology and seed production were measured in eight populations of Setaria leiantha. Phenotypic var iation for 12 traits was analyzed by multivariate methods. A canonical variate analysis provided a preliminary criteria for distinguishing t he populations. The first three canonical components account for 93% o f the total variance. Seed weight per ear was the most important chara cter to discriminate among populations. The preliminari groups formed will serve as centers of diversity for future collections.