Variation in Traits of Magnolia officinalis Seedlings from Different Provenances and Their Principal Component Analysis

Magnolia officinalis is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant and results from our study will be significant for significant in environmental heterogeneity.Growth traits of M.officinalis seedlings from fourteen provenances introduced from seven provinces in China were measured during field experiments.The results showed there were significant differences among provenances.Seedling height and leaf area/plant had high hereditary capacity among provenances.Based on the results the potential for improvement in multiple characteristics is significant.Correlation analysis showed there were some relationships between phenotype,environment,and heredity for all traits.The correlation of heritability between leaf area/plant and growth traits of above-ground parts were greater than that between leaf area/plant and growth traits of under-ground parts,and significant correlations among heredity traits were higher than those among phenotype in number and degree of traits combination.We concluded that traits such as biomass,leaf area/plant,dry weight of above-ground part and dry weight of under-ground part should be considered as preference factors and seedling height and collar diameter as assistant factors when selecting seedlings.By cluster analysis,seven superior provenances were selected,which were Jingning,Wuyishan,Longsheng,Kaixian,Chenggu,Ningqiang,and Yangxian.