Variation in fruit, seed and germination traits in Sterculia urens roxb.

Sterculia urens Roxb., commonly known as Gum Karaya or Indian-tragacanth, is one of India's commercial non-timber forest genetic resources. Many tribal communities depend upon various NTFPs, including Sterculia Gum, for their routine life and livelihood security. The present study recorded variation in fruit, seed and germination traits among selected accessions from the Vansda forest of South Gujarat. The result showed that there was a significant variation among 14 accessions for fruit length (29.30-43.29 mm), fruit thickness (14.60-19.70 mm) and fruit weight (1.05-2.56 g), seed length (8.57-11.56 mm), seed thickness (5.33-6.91 mm) and single seed weight (0.12-0.29 g). The significant variation was recorded for seed germination, which ranged from 53 to 100 percent. Six out of fourteen accessions produced > 90% seed germination. Seed length (86%) and seed weight (81%) recorded maximum heritability values. The overall genetic gain among fruit and seed traits was less; however, seed weight (38.50%) and germination (30.86%) recorded comparatively higher gain than other traits. It is revealed that seed lots collected from the Vansda forest exhibited variability in fruit & seed biometry and germination percentage. Hence, there is a scope to select and improve the species.