Morpho-Anatomical Adaptability Potential of Lasiurus scindicus

Morpho-anatomical adaptability potential of fourteen accessions of Lasiurus scindicus (Henr.) collected from the Cholistan desert, Pakistan during 2005 was evaluated. Data collected revealed considerable variation for flag leaf area, number of hairs on upper surface of the leaf, number of hairs on lower surface of the leaf, number of epidermal appendages at margins of leaf base, thickness of leaf cuticle, number of stomata on upper surface of the leaf, stomatal index and number of epidermal cells on upper surface of leaf. The accessions KWT1/1 and KWT1/2, collected from "Khokhran Wala Toba", BC1/2, from "Baghdad Campus", SWT, from "Sulleh Wala Toba", showed high variation and appeared as the best genotypes based on eco-physiological variations detected in this study hence these will aid in making core collections of this grass species. These accessions should further be tested under a wide range of environmental stresses such as drought, salinity and high temperature, to find stress tolerant ecotypes. This may be propagated for the restoration of degraded rangelands of Cholistan.