Khothatso Nkhabu and Mpho Liphoto

A total of 30 wild Urtica Dioica accessions was collected from the localities f Lesotho. In an experiment arranged in Complete Randomized Design with three replicates, observations were recorded for 15 traits; Plant-height (cm), Fresh-weight (g), Dry-weight (g), Number of leaves, Leaf length (cm), Leaf breadth (cm), Leaf area (cm²), total Carotenoids (mg.g^-1FW), total Chlorophyll-a (mg.g^-1FW), total Chlorophyll-b (mg.g^-1FW), Stem-diameter (mm), Number of trichomes, Number of nodes and Length of 3 nodes (cm). The Analysis of variance revealed highly significant difference among the tested genotypes of stinging nettle at (P<0.01) level of significance. The highest phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GPV) were obtained for stem diameter and the least were obtained from carotenoids and chlorophylls. Plant height, had the highest heritability estimate and genetic advance. There is genetic variability and high heritability of attributes in stinging nettle. All observed traits can be targeted for selection.

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