Open Journal of Genetics, 2015, 5, 71-82 Published Online June 2015 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojgen http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojgen.2015.52006 How to cite this paper: Assefa, T., Wu, J.X. and Boe, A. (2015) Genetic Variation for Achene Traits in Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.). Open Journal of Genetics, 5, 71-82. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojgen.2015.52006 Genetic Variation for Achene Traits in Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) Teshale Assefa 1 , Jixiang Wu 2 , Arvid Boe 2* 1 Iowa State University, Ames, USA 2 South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA Email: tmamo@iastate.edu , jixiang.wu@sdstate.edu , * arvid.boe@sdstate.edu Received 4 May 2015; accepted 26 June 2015; published 29 June 2015 Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) has demonstrated potential for biomass production in studies using transplants in poorly drained cropland not suitable for conventional crops, but little is known about its establishment from seeding. The success rate for stand establishment of perenni- al plants is usually positively correlated with seed weight. Therefore, objectives of this study were to determine contribution of genetic effects to variation in achene weight, seed weight, achene length, and achene width of cup plant in a population with high biomass potential. Seedlings of 33 half-sib (HS) families were transplanted at Brookings, SD in 1999 and 2010. Achene/seed traits were determined at seed maturity in 2000, 2011 and 2012. Narrow-sense heritability was higher for achene weight and seed weight than that for dimensional achene traits. Within-population ge- netic variation occurred for achene and seed weight, both of which varied in response to temporal variation in precipitation and temperature. Results of this study indicated the presence of suffi- cient additive genetic variation for progress from among-family selection for achene weight. Thus, since families with heavy achenes had higher percent seedling emergence and superior seedling vigor compared to families with light achenes, achene weight may be useful for indirect selection for enhanced seed quality in development of new cultivars of cup plant for biomass production on marginal crop land. Keywords Cup Plant, Achene Traits, Heritability, Seedling Vigor, Seed Germination 1. Introduction Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) is a perennial dicotyledonous plant that occurs in moist prairie areas from * Corresponding author.