ISSN : 2348-8808 (Print ), 2348-8867 (Online) Journal of AgriSearch 2(3): 221-224 Characterization of Coriander (Coriandrum Sativum) based on the Morphological Traits RK SINGH*! AND SS VERMA Department of Seed Science and Technology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted with twenty coriander varieties for morphological characterization wherein seed characters viz. seed shape and test weight and vegetative characters such as plant height, days to 50 per cent lowering, branches per plant, umbels per plant, seed yield per plant and days to maturity were found stable and uniform. A low chart was developed which will serve as identiication keys during genetic purity determination. Keywords: Coriandrum sativum L., Morphological traits, characterization, identiication key. ! Present address: Central Potato Research Station, Sahaynagar, Patna, India *Corresponding Author Email: rksingh.cprs@gmail.com Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an annual herb (2n=22), which belongs to the family Apiaceae and generally grown in winter season as main crop in India. All parts of the plant are edible but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are most commonly used in cooking. This is mainly used as spice for adding taste and lavour in different food stuffs but also possesses some medicinal properties. The basic objective of varietal identiication is to confirm the occurrence of traits that helps in identifying a particular variety when grown in different environmental conditions and generations (Flenner and Smith, 1983). Plant morphology is the main basis to differentiate the varieties easily and eficiently. Accurate identiication of varieties is not only a prerequisite for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) testing, but is equally important for the production of quality seed also. Therefore, present study was conducted to characterize coriander varieties based on morphological traits and to develop low chart to serve as identiication key for genetic purity determination of varieties. The laboratory studies were conducted at Department of Seed Science and Technology, CCS, HAU, Hisar while ield work at Vegetable Farm of the University. Seeds of twenty coriander varieties were arranged from different research centers across the country. The coriander varieties were sown in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The net plot size was 4 x 2 m and row to row and plant to plant spacing was 50 and 20 cm, respectively. The non-experimental rows were also maintained to avoid border effects. Recommended agronomic package and practices were followed to grow a good and healthy crop. A total of ten competitive plants (excluding border plants) from each plot were randomly selected. These ten plants were used for recording of data pertaining to morphological characters. The morphological traits like plant height at maturity (cm), days to 50 per cent lowering, lower colour, plant appearance, number of branches per plant, number of umbels per plant, number of umbellet per umbel, number of seeds per umbel, days to maturity, seed yield per plant, seed size, seed shape, test weight (g), seedling pigmentation and plant stem pigmentation were compared and related data were recorded accordingly. The data was analysed as per standard method suggested by Panse and Sukhatme (1967). Substantial variations were observed among varieties for the majority of the traits studied during experimentation and based on these differences, the varieties were grouped into different categories. The plant height was measured at maturity which ranged from 100.1 to 136.2 cm. Out of twenty, seven varieties (RCr-446, RCr-480, RCr-684, NRCSS ACr-1, Hisar Bhoomit, Hisar Surbhi and RCr-41) were grouped as tall, seven varieties (GC-2, RCr-20, RCr-435, JD-1, CS-6, Hisar Anand, Hisar Sugandh) as medium and six varieties (GC-1, RCr-436, Sudha, Sindhu, Swathi and Sadhana) as dwarf varieties. The time taken by coriander varieties ARTICLE INFO Received on : 07.07.2015 Accepted on : 13.08.2015 Published online : 01.09.2015 Short Note