- Horse gram (Dolichos biflorus, morphoforms, morphometric characters
Abstract
Three distinct morphoforms of horse gram (Dolichos biflorus Linn.) are recognized from the colour of the seed. The common morphoform is one with the buff seed coat (brownish colour). Others are cream and black seed coat types. The black seeded type is generally shorter in duration and low in vigour. In this context
an attempt was made regarding the preliminary analysis of the morphoforms of D. biflorus. Morphometric characteristics were analyzed both in the seedlings and mature plants which includes length of the seedling, primary root, number of lateral roots, R/S ratio and vigour index. The mean data thus obtained are tabulated. There was no marked variation in seedling between the morphoforms. The variation between these was not significant statistically. Mean morphometric data of mature plants were statistically significant at 99.9% probability level. Foliar characteristics such as length of leaf varied from 9.1 to 9.7 cm, which were not statistically significant. However, the mean length of rachis shows significant variation at P < 0.05. Although there were slight variations in leaflets characteristics, they were not statistically significant between morphoforms. The duration of flowering ranged from 67 to 69 days. The black seed morphoform flowered a little earlier. However, there was no significant variation related to flowering period between the morphoforms.