Morphological Analysis of Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) Accessions of Different Origin from VIR Collection

The article is dedicated to morphological analysis of the Jerusalem artichoke genetic resources collected at the N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR). The crop has a wide range of various usages, such as: food and feed, and medicinal, melliferous, and ornamental products. In this study, morphological characteristics of vegetative and generative plant organs (stems, leaves, tubers and inflorescences) from the VIR collections in the Maikop Experiment Station of VIR (Russian Caucasus, Republic of Adygea) and in Gatchina District, Leningrad Province, Russia were analysed. The widest range of variability was observed in accessions from Western Europe. Accessions from United States, Japan and Australia were the most unique in their set of traits, which may indicate specific paths of their evolution in these isolated territories. Accessions with unique combinations of studied traits were determined. Some traits characterizing leaf, inflorescence and tuber proved to be valuable for taxonomic and geographic analyses.