Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(5): 1601-1608 1601 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.605.174 Estimates of Genetic Parameters and Correlation in Catkin and Seed Traits of Salix alba P.A. Paray, S. A. Gangoo, S.J.A. Bhat*, Amir Bhat and A. A. Parray Faculty of Forestry, Benhama, Ganderbal, J&K-191201, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction The Salix species belong to the family Salicaceae. There are about 450-520 species of Salix known from all around the world which are distributed mostly in the Northern Hemisphere (Argus, 1997; Skvortsov, 1999). In India there are about 33 Salixspecies which have majorly been categorized as shrubs except Salix alba, S. babylonica, S. daphnoids, S. fragilis, S. elegasand S. tetrasperma. In Kashmir valley, the genus Salix is represented by 23 species of which 15 reach alpine/subalpine limits (Dhar and Kachroo, 1983). The genus Salixis very heterogeneous and shows considerable variation in size, growth form, and crown architecture. The Salix species are eco- friendly, multipurpose, fast growing and are widely used for plantation world over. These are being cultivated for a variety of end uses viz. baskets, cricket bats, hurdles, furniture, plywood, paper and pulp, rope making etc (Verwijst, 2001; Kuzovkina et al., 2008). Salix alba is a moderate to a large deciduous tree with ascending branches and spreading but light crown, attaining a height of 20-25 m and a diameter of 60 cm. under its native habitat, trees are known to attain a height of 30 m and I m in diameter. Bark is reddish green or brown, smooth in younger trees, fissuring longitudinally with age. Leaves are long lanceolate, acuminate silky, grayish green, silvery white underneath, finely serrated, petiole about 1 cm; shoots are first silky then olive green and very supple. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 5 (2017) pp. 1601-1608 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Twenty candidate plus trees (CPT’s) of Salix alba were selected from different locations of Kashmir valley following comparison tree method. Significant variation and association were observed among all the selected CPT’s for catkin and seed traits. CPT-12 had maximum for majority of the characters. Heritability in broad sense was high for all the characters under study with maximum (0.936) for capsule diameter followed by high to moderate gain indicating the additive gene action. Germination percentage was found to have positive and significant correlation with catkin and seed weight. CPT-12, CPT-6 and CPT-53 were found to be best on the basis of these characters. Keywords Catkin-seed, Salix alba, CPT’s, Correlation and heritability. Accepted: 17 April 2017 Available Online: 10 May 2017 Article Info