Abstract
Spistan (Cordia myxa Roxb.) is a potentially underutilized fruit plant in arid and semi-arid regions. It has long been associated with health and nutrition. Morphological diversity of 75 accessions of this species was evaluated. The accessions studied showed significant differences in terms of the characters measured. Ripening date varied from late May to mid-July. Fruit color was yellow-cream in 54, light orange in 8, and orange in 13 accessions. The range of fruit weight was 0.71-11.83 g with an average of 3.12, while fruit flesh thickness ranged from 0.63 to 7.86 mm with an average of 2.55, and fruit jelly part thickness varied between 1.34 and 6.40 mm with an average of 2.75. Principal component analysis could describe the evaluated traits as the nine main components that were able to justify 79.04% of total variance. Hierarchical clustering showed that the accessions were placed into two main clusters using the measured traits data, exhibiting a wide range of variability. Based on the traits related to selection of the ideal genotype, such as big fruit size, high fruit flesh thickness with high yield, and longer harvesting period, 11 accessions, including Jangal-4, Jangal-9, Rask-7, Jangal-5, Jangal-6, Jangal-11, Rask-1, Jangal-1, Rask-4, Rask-5, and Rask-2, were superior. It is recommended to use the best accessions selected in breeding programs. The commercial orchards of those best accessions should be extensively constructed to take advantage of the high yield of C. myxa as a crop and its medicinal properties.