Abstract:In this study, genetic relationship of 38 representative germplasms of the chieh-qua and wax gourd was studied based on the investigation of 9 morphological characters and SRAP markers．A total of 9 characters were studied, including the rate of germination, single fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, skin color, shape, stars number, melon flesh and fresh color. The variation coefficient of these nine biological characters ranged from 0.092 to 0.547, among them the coefficient of single fruit weight was the maximum; their genetic diversity index (H) ranged from 0.122 to 1.405. The SRAP marker showed that totally 323 polymorphic fragments in the tested 38 chieh-qua and wax gourd materials were generated by 20 pairs of SRAP primers. The molecular genetic similarity coefficient ranged from 0.95 to 0. 99. The genetic backgrounds gap between chieh-qua and wax gourd was very narrow: the genetic relationship results showed that both common chieh-qua and wax gourd are close to the type of yellow-fuzz chieh-qua. Therefore, the chieh-qua should not be cheated as a variant of wax gourd, but can be considred as Southern China local variety; this study also addresses some material homonym problems. In a word, this study could provide the valuable reference for the chieh-qua and wax gourd breeding.