Divergence studies in dahlia

Twenty five genotypes of dahlia (Dahlia variabilies) were evaluated to assess the genetic diversity and variability during kharif 2000 in a randomized Mock design with three replications. The mean sum of squares were highly significant for all the 13 characters studied, indicating the presence of variability. The genotypes studied were grouped into 10 clusters. Among the 10 clusters, cluster-I, II and III were largest with five genotypes in each cluster, followed by cluster-IV, V and VI having two genotypes in each cluster. The cluster VII, VIII, IX and X were monogenotypic clusters. The maximum intra-cluster distance was exhibited by genotypes of the cluster VI, while the lowest by the genotypes of the cluster IV. The intercluster distance was highest between the cluster VI and DC and lowest between the clusters I and II. The traits, number of ray florets/flower, fresh weight of flower, days to full bloom from bud break to complete withering, freshness from bud break to withering and number of disc florets/flower contributed considerably to divergence.