Table 1.

Morphological aspects of M. esculenta lines SM 1219-1, TMS 660444 and HMC 1.

Observed character	Details	SM 1219-9	TMS 660444	HMC 1
Branch height at flowering (cm)	Main stem	122.2 (4.2)*a	46.2 (2.2)†	68.0 (3.3)†
	First branch	177.5 (4.9)	88.3 (3.1)	112.2 (3.9)
	Second branch	247.0 (2.9)	178.0 (4.3)	148.5 (3.8)
Flowering phenology (days)	Initiation of inflorescence after field planting	147.0 (1.1)	137.6 (1.7)	135.7 (2.8)
	Opening of first female cyathium	25.1 (1.1)	25.8 (0.9)	24.0 (1.8)
	Female phase	1.0 (0.2)	1.0 (0.2)	1.0 (0.3)
	Opening of first male cyathium	28.5 (0.7)	29.5 (0.8)	29.9 (1.3)
	Male phase	12.8 (0.7)	13.8 (0.3)	9.0 (0.3)
Flower life span (days)	Male cyathium	11.8 (0.4)	11.4 (0.2)	9.8 (0.2)
	Female cyathium	9.6 (0.4)	9.5 (0.3)	9.0 (0.5)
Inflorescence architecture (number)	Branches	4.9 (0.1)	4.3 (0.3)	3.9 (0.5)
	Male cyathia	139.7 (7.3)‡	49.5 (2.8)§	26.1 (1.7)§
	Female cyathia	6.9 (0.2)	6.5 (0.2)	4.9 (0.2)
	Hermaphrodite cyathia	0.04 (0.02)	0.03 (0.02)	0.2 (0.04)
Flower morphology	Colour	Green	Yellowish green	Reddish green
	Number of anthers per male cyathia	10	10	10
	Number of ovules per female cyathia	3	3	3
	Pollen to ovule ratio	606	616	577
Stamen size (length in mm) in different whorls	External filament	6.63 (0.05)	7.27 (0.1)	7.09 (0.14)
	Internal filament	3.61 (0.04)	4.9 (0.17)	4.43 (0.11)
	External anther	2.49 (0.02)	2.52 (0.03)	2.40 (0.03)
	Internal anther	2.41 (0.02)	2.42 (0.02)	2.39 (0.03)
Pollen quantity	External anther	185.2 (2.3)	190.1 (2.3)	176.8 (2.4)
	Internal anther	178.0 (2.1)	179.58 (2.5)	167.6 (2.6)
	Average number of pollen grains per flower	1815.8 (29.2)	1848.6 (32.8)	1722.4 (34.1)

Different symbols within a row indicate significantly different values at P < 0.001.

^aValues averaged and standard error in parentheses.