Morphological Variation and Delineation of Teak (Tectona grandis L. F.) Clones of Kerala through Leaf Character : Implication for Seed Orchard Management

摘要

Teak is one of the most valuable and widely, planted species of southern India, where it has a long history as plantation species due to its valuable timber. In recent years new planting in various regions is leading to a significant net increase in plantations each year. More recent reports indicated that the existing area under teak plantation was about 2.6 million ha representing a total sustainable yield of 12.8 million m3 (ITTO, 2009; Blaser et al, 2011). Moreover, the teak harbors huge amount of ecotypic variations owing to its wide distributional range spanning across the Indian Peninsular.