The genetic diversity of taro of the Germoplasm Bank of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil, was evaluated, by analyzing morphological and quality characteristics of the inflorescence. Plants were grown from 19/09/00 to 13/07/01. Field plots were arranged in a randomized block design with five replicates containing 36 treatments (clones), in which only 11 accesses (BGH 5920, BGH 5926, BGH 5927, BGH 6087, BGH 6089, BGH 6091, BGH 6093, BGH 6094, BGH 6136, BGH 6306 and BGH 6606) flowered spontaneously. The ratio between sterile appendage and male portion was on average 1.02, varying from 0.4 (BGH 6136) to 1.4 (BGH 6087). The inflorescence is surrounded by a spathe with light yellow color at the upper part (LC), with or without spots of red, or yellow-orange color. The bottom portion of the spathe which contains the female flowers (inflorescence tube) varied from green, containing or not strips or spots dark to purple color. At anthesis, the spathe shows flat format (BGH 5920, BGH 5926, BGH 6091, BGH 6093, BGH 6094 and BGH 6306) or hooded (BGH 5927, BGH 6087, BGH 6089, BGH 6136 and BGH 6606), with the male portion exposed or enclosed, respectively. The color of flower stalk varied from pale green to purplish, and ratio between total and inflorescence stalk length (LSLIR) average was 1.8, varying from 1.1 (BGH 5927) to 2.3 (BGH 6089). Number of inflorescences (NI) ranged from 1 to 5 per leaf axis, composing 1 to 2 floral clusters per plant (NFCP). Based on flower morphology the accesses formed four groups by Tocher method: I (BGH 5920, BGH 6091, BGH 6093, BGH 6094, BGH 5926, BGH 6606 and BGH 6087), II (BGH 6089, BGH 6306), III (BGH 6136) and (BGH 5927). Based on dispersion analysis from the last main components, the variables LC, LSLIR, NI and NFCP, showed little influence on the variability description of the inflorescence.
Colocasia esculenta; flowering; clone; descriptors
