Characterization of horse gram cultivars using plant morphological characters

The present study was conducted at Seed Research and Technology Center, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during rabi, 2008–09 using 23 accessions of horse gram. In general, all the accessions were erect and twining with green coloured veins and greenish yellow flowers, green immature pods with straw coloured pedicels. However, variation was noticed among the cultivars with respect to other morphological characters. A key based on the observed stem, leaf, pod and seed characters was constructed which serves as an aid for the identification of different cultivars of horse gram and also serves as a guide for preparation of DUS manual for horse gram.