Studies on Diversity of Leaf Morphological Traits of Plants Regenerated from ＂Miniature Seeds＂ in Loquat

The genetic diversity of 79 accessions regenerated from ＂miniature seeds＂ of loquat （Eriobotrya japonica Lindl. cv. ＇Dawuxing＇） was analyzed based on 13 morphological characteristics of leaves in this study, in order to provide important morphological basis for breeding new varieties and materials through ＂miniature seed＂ breeding method in loquat. The results showed that there was abundant genetic diversity in leaf morphological characteristics of regenerated plants （D=0.785）, especially indicated by diversity indexes of leaf length （D=0.991）, leaf width （D=0.994）, petiole length （D=0.982）, petiole thickness （D=0.995） and leaf thickness （D=0.987）. And all the characteristic values varied broadly with coefficients of variation ranging from 9.84% to 40.09%; 79 accessions were divided into 6 groups by UPGMA method, there were significant differences in leaf morphological traits among the 6 groups; Group I and group VI were quite different from other groups and parent plants （cv. ＂Dawuxing＂）. The leaves of group