Abstract:Abstract: We studied the morphological diversity of 111 types of Lagerstroemia indica germplasm resources in Hunan by examining 17 morphological Characteristics. The results showed that, Lagerstroemia indica germplasm resources in Hunan were rich in morphological diversity, with mean diversity index (Shannon’s index, H‘) of 0.707. On the whole, the morphological diversity index of quantitative trait was greater than that of qualitative trait. We observed significant varieties in 2 qualitative Characteristics (color, claw color) and 5 quantitative Characteristics (the flower diameter, flower number, length and the width of inflorescence, 1000 seed weight), with H‘ being greater than 1.2 and 1.4, respectively. The degree of genetic diversity among different groups of Lagerstroemia
indica varieties germplasm resources varied considerably. The groups of Lagerstroemia indica ranged in a diminishing order of H’ value from L. indica Rubra Group (H‘=0.838), L. indica Amabilis Group (H‘=0.823), L. indica Alba Group( H‘= 0.696), L. indica dwarf Group (H‘=0.604), to L. indica Bicolor Group (H‘=0.573). Based on principal component analysis, the contribution rate of the first 7 principal components was 67.70%, including the inflorescence length, inflorescence width, number of flowers, number of flower colors, flower color, 1000-seed weight, claw color, leaf color, branchlets four prism, potpourri, and flower diameter (11 morphological indices in total), which represent the crape myrtle Germplasm traits. Based on morphological traits, 111 copies of Lagerstroemia indica germplasm were analyzed in cluster and divided into five groups. The genetic clustering results are consistent with Zhang and Wang’s research in terms of morphological and molecular markers on the principle of classification of Lagerstroemia indica varieties and standards, i.e., using the source composition as the primary classification criteria, the plant height as the secondary, and the color as the third level classification criteria.