Influence of plant morphology on root yield in Safed Musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) to identify morphological marker traits

The study was performed in order to assess the influence of plant morphology on root yield and its attributing traits in Safed Musli. Twenty seven germplasm lines of Chlorophytum borivilianum were characterized for 4 morphological features (plant architecture, flowering nature, leaf margin and canopy shape), 7 yield attributing traits (canopy spread, leaf width, leaf length, number of leaves/ plant, number of roots/ plant, root length and root diameter) and root yield/ plant. Based on morphology the genotypes were grouped into different morphotype pairs and compared using ‘t’ test. Genotypes with flowering ability showed significantly higher mean values for canopy spread and leaf length that are significantly correlated with root yield. So flowering nature can be utilized as morphological marker for large-scale screening of germplasm lines for yield in Safed Musli.