Caracterización y evaluación morfológicas de la colección colombiana de achira, Canna edulis Ker Gawl. (Cannaceae)

An evaluation of the Colombian collection of achira Canna edulis Ker Gawl. (Cannaceae) was carried out at La Selva Research Station, of the Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (Corpoica). The characterization process consisted of measuring qualitative and quantitative variables. The measured variables included forty (40) qualitative attributes with 192 polymorphic stages and thirty-one (31) quantitative attributes with twenty-six (26) continuous and five (5) discontinuous attributes. Variability was observed in 39 of the 41 qualitative variables, which indicates a 95.12 % polymorphism rate of the recorded attributes, with a maximum of 90 % and minimum of 50 % similarity among accessions. On the other hand, all 31 recorded quantitative attributes exhibited variability among plant materials in the collection. In addition, 16 plant materials did not produce any inflorescences during the study, which indicates that there are behavioral differences under the same environment which are likely associated to their genetic makeup. The knowledge gained from this study will enable to use the collection of this biological resource to support the development of this species as a crop by supplying plant materials that could be used in selection programs, development of cultivars and the gathering of states of descriptors not present in the collection.