Morphological diversity assessment in wild and cultivated cardoons.

摘要

Agromorphological assessments of 19 cardoon populations were carried out in Lazio, Italy. The data were analysed using Principal Component Analysis, and based on 14 morphological traits. The results showed that the main useful descriptors were leaf length, total number of flower heads, plant height, distance from the main flower head to the first leaf and plant maturation. Number of offshoots and total number of flower heads characterized wild cardoons. Wild types were also typified by a more stellate growth form, with narrower leaves and were smaller in height than cultivated varieties.