Abstract

Genetic biodiversity among sixty genetically diversified genotypes of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) for nine quantitative characters by Multivariate analysis revealed that the factors other than geographical diversity might have been responsible for grouping of genetic divergence. The clustering pattern revealed that the genotypes originating from different geographical regions got themselves grouped into different clusters. This indicated that the geographic biodiversity is not the only factor in determining genetic biodiversity. The genotypes with same geographic origin could have undergone change for different characters under selection during the process of evolution. The free clustering of the ecotypes suggested the influence of direction of selection pressure (applied) for realizing maximum yield in different ecosystems, the nicely evolved homeostatic devices would favour constancy of the associated characters and thus show indiscriminate clustering. The comparative study of efficacy of Tocher’s method of grouping with Complete linkage dendrogram indicated the superiority of Complete linkage dendrogram over Tocher’s method with a defined uniformity of index of homogeneity and optimum number of uniform clusters.

Keywords: Roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Complete linkage dendrogram, Tocher’s method, index of homogeneity, Clustering.