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چکیده
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Nitre-bush (Nitraria schoberi L.) is a halophytic shrub with great ecological value. It is strongly resistant to saline-alkali and droughtimpacted environments that can be used to conserve soil and water and prevent desertification. In the present study, a total of 184 wild individual specimens of this species were evaluated using 25 morphological traits to figure out the degree of phenotypic variation. Significant variations were detected among the specimens; especially in shrub growth vigor, shoot density, canopy density, and shrub length. The highest coefficient of variation (CV) corresponded to leaf lower surface color, leaf upper surface color, shoot flexibility, shrub growth habit, shrub growth vigor, shoot density, shoot branching, and canopy density. The lowest CV was detected in seed shape. Shrub length varied from 30 to 200 cm with an average of 74.34 cm, while the height of the tallest branch ranged from 15 to 200 cm. Shrub growth vigor and canopy density were high in 52 and 54 specimens, respectively. Leaf density was high in 50 specimens, while leaf shape was predominantly narrowelliptic. According to principal component analysis (PCA), the first eight components of data accounted for 70.60% of the total variance among the specimens. The scatter plot exposed a high level of morphological variation within the surveyed specimens. Some of the superior specimens, such as no. 72, 78, 93, 103, and 105 were separated from others in the scatter plot and characterized by high values of shrub growth vigor, shoot density, leaf density, fruit density, shoot branching, canopy density, leaf length, and leaf width, which can be utilized in breeding programs
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