Patterns of Morphometric Variability in Dendrocalamus Hamiltonii Munro Populations across East Khasi Hills, Northeast India

A study was undertaken in Dendrocalamus hamiltonii to assess variability and structure in seven commercially important morphological parameters in 120 sampled clumps across six populations in east Khasi Hills. Statistically significant variations were found in six parameters viz., culm length, culm diameter at breast height (dbh), culm internode length, number of nodes, culm wall thickness and culm lumen diameter. A high negative and significant (p = 0.01) correlation between culm internode length and culm wall thickness was observed. Principal components analysis of populations based on morphological parameters differentiated Khasi populations from the lone population in Naga Hills. This variation between the two regions could be explained by the parameters culm wall thickness and internode length. No clear population structure was detected in the Khasi Hills populations, where some degree of overlapping among populations was observed indicating continuous variation in the observed morphological parameters.