Variation in leaf morphological traits of Terminalia arjuna Roxb. in natural population of lower parts of Achanakmar Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve (AABR) of Central India.

Terminalia arjuna (T. arjuna) is a one of the important forest tree species of Achnakmar Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve (AABR) of Central India. T. arjuna is regarded as a potent medicinal plants for cardiac disease. A little information is available about leaf trait variations along the AABR forests of Central India. The present study on the morphological variation has been done in three natural populations of T.arjuna (Achanakmar, Chhaparwa and Lamini) growing in the forests of AABR. Leaves of tree species can be good morphological markers to analyse the diversity status of a forest tree species. Eleven leaf morphological traits as leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, leaf area, leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, leaf thickness, distance between veins, length of midrib, number of secondary veins and length of veins were measured in groups of population. In the present study the results showed that all measured leaf morphological traits have remarkable phenotypic variability. The morphological dissimilarities of the leaf in T.arjuna in AABR are possibly attributed to its genetic variations, developed as a result of adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. Correlation matrix among different leaf morphological traits of T. arjuna for different locations of AABR have been done. A positive correlations were observed in different morphological traits of leaves of T. arjuna. However multisite phenotypic analysis are required in order to completely separate environmental and genetic factors explaining the observed level of natural variability in this forest tree species.