Variation in phenotypic characters of pale flax (Linum bienne Mill.) from Turkey

Abstract

The diversity of pale flax (Linum bienne Mill.) as the progenitor of cultivated flax (L. usitatissimum L.) has not been well documented and the domestication syndromes in cultivated flax are poorly understood. An attempt was made to characterize 34 pale flax accessions and six cultivated flax accessions collected during 2007 summer in Turkey. A total of 12 quantitative and 7 qualitative characters covering vegetative and generative plant parts, including phenological traits, were assessed. The occurrence of yellow anthers well known in cultivated flax is reported for the first time in pale flax. Pale flax displayed larger variation in vegetative plant parts and growth habit than the cultivated flax and more heterogeneity within accessions. Within pale flax, a higher degree of variation was observed in many generative parts such as the flower characters than in the capsule and seed characters. Based on the assayed characters, the pale flax from Turkey was grouped into three clusters and these clusters were associated with site elevation and longitude, further confirming local genetic differentiation in pale flax from Turkey. These findings are significant for further studies of flax domestication history and useful for further exploitation of wild flax in genetic improvement of cultivated flax.