Morphological variability of the field accessions of Hypericum perforatum

Abstract

Variation of ten phenotypic characters was assessed among fifteen Lithuanian accessions of Hypericum perforatum L. of wild origin as well as Polish cultivar ‘Topaz’ cultivated in the field collection of medicinal plants at the Institute of Botany. High variations were established within accessions in length (CV = 26- 41 %) and width (CV = 17-35 %) of inflorescence and weight of raw material (CV = 25-51 %). Four different morphotypes were distinguished according to the presence/absence of black glands on petals and in pistils. The ANOVA revealed significant differences (p<0.05) among the morphotypes in plant height, length of inflorescence, weight of raw material and number of leaf glands. It was established that the morphotypes vary very much within the accessions as well. The accessions No. 381, No. 419, No. 423, No. 424, No. 426 and No. 427 are adequate to the cv. ‘Topaz’ and produce fairly long and wide inflorescences with high total yield of medicinal raw material.