Abstract
Amorphophallus variabilis plants grow wild in Java. The Indonesian government planned to use A. variabilis as raw material for the food industry, but the genetic variability has not yet been studied. The objective of this study was to analyze the morphological characteristics of 63 accessions collected from 6 districts in West Java.
The length of the peduncles ranged from 13.5 to 75 cm. Appendix (asexual part of spadix) length and diameter were 5.5 to 42.5 cm and 0.7 to 3.2 cm, respectively. The length of the male zones ranged from 2.5 to 8.0 cm, and the color of the part surrounded by pollen sacs was different from that of pollen sacs in some accessions. Spathe length ranged from 8 to 24 cm, and green spathe was most common. Principal component analysis of 10 morphological characteristics of the inflorescences showed that 69% of the total variation could be explained by the first four components. Scatter diagrams of the second and third components showed that the 63 accessions could be divided into 7 groups, A to G. Using cluster analysis, the 63 accessions could be divided into four groups. Cluster I comprised groups B and C except for two accessions in group A, and cluster III comprised groups D and E. Cluster II corresponded to group F. Accessions in groups A and G corresponded to cluster IV. It appeared that the classification of A. variabilis accessions based on morphological characteristics of inflorescences was not related to the geographical origin. The coexistence of accessions belonging to several clusters in the same area suggests the existence of a large genetic variability of A. variabilis.
