Morphological variability of Mauritanian date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars as revealed by vegetative traits

The aim of this study was to use morphological markers to characterize twelve Mauritanian date-palm ecotypes currently grown by farmers. Eighteen phenotypic traits describing the vegetative systems were measured in the field in Atar Oasis. The data set was analyzed by principal components analysis (PCA) and UPGMA clustering. PCA revealed a great variability among the cultivars. Fourteen out of the 18 characters studied showed a high discriminating power suggesting their possible uses in the establishment of a Mauritanian date-palm catalogue. UPGMA Clustering revealed association between cultivars with similar fruit characteristics indicating that these ecotypes are morphologically related. Results also showed that individuals belonging to the Ahmar cultivar were morphologically distinct, suggesting it is likely a polyclonal variety.