This is an open access article d istributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer cial-ShareAl ike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, d istribution, and reproduction in any med ium, provide d the original author and source are credited. INTRODUCTION Chrysa nthemum (Dendranthema x grandiflora Tzvelev) is popularly known as ‘Guldaudi’ in India and ‘Glory of the East’ or ‘Mum’ in USA. It belongs to the family Asteraceae and native to Northern Hemisphere, chiefly Europe and Asia. It is one of the important floriculture crops in the world and ranks second next to rose. It is used as a cut flower, potted plant, and herbaceous perennial, and has been grown in garden for more than 2500 years (Vijayakumari et al., 2019). In India, small flowered chrysanthemum is used for making garlands, venis, gajaras and in religious offerings. There has been increase in the demand for potted chrysanthemum due to its suitability as potted plant in the last few years (Abrol et al., 2018). It is a short-day plant; critical photoperiod is 13. 5 h for vegeta tive gr owth a nd 12 h for reproductive development (Cockshull, 1985). Crop improvement depends on magnitude of genetic variability and its nature and association among key traits for efficient selection. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) helps in determining the amount of variability (Allard, 1960). Heritability estimates the relative influence of environment on expression of genotypes. Genetic advance gives an idea about the expected genetic changes, and for efficient selection, high heritability along with high genetic advance can be used (Johnson et al., 1955). Studies on correlation coefficients between various desirable traits would be helpful in indirect selection of desirable traits for crop improvement. The path coefficient analysis is highly effective method to simplify the complex interactions among various traits which reveals the direct and indirect causes of such interactions. Thus, the present study was carried out to a ssess the genetic pa rameter s of variability, correlation coefficients and path coefficient which would be of great significance in selection of parents for formulating appropriate breeding programme in chrysanthemum. Original Research Paper J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023 https://doi.org/10.24154/jhs.v18i1.2150 Assessment of genetic variability, character association and path coefficient analysis in Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema x grandiflora Tzvelev) Gurung A., Kumar R.*, Aswath C. and Tejaswini P. Division of Flower and Medicinal Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hesaraghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru - 560089, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author Email : Rajiv.Kumar11@icar.gov.in ABSTRACT Thirty-one genotypes of chrysanthemum (Dendranthema x grandiflora Tzvelev) were evaluated for nine growth and flowering related traits to assess the genetic variability, correlation and path coefficient analysis. Significant differences among genotypes for all the growth and flowering related traits were observed through analysis of variance. The range of variation was high for number of leaves plant-1 (66.17-164.50) followed by number of flowers plant-1 (30.67-116.83). The magnitude of phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all the characters studied. High (>20%) PCV and GCV was recorded for plant height, number of branches plant-1, number of leaves plant-1, days to bud initiation, days to first flower opening and number of flowers plant-1. Heritability estimates ranged from 77.72% (days to optimum flowering) to 96.93% (number of flowers plant-1). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was recorded for all the traits studied. Number of flowers plant-1 exhibited positive and highly significant correlation with number of branches and leaves plant-1. Path coefficient analysis using correlation coefficients revealed that days to first flower opening (1.564) exhibited positive and very high direct effect, while,number of leaves plant- 1 (0.347) and flower diameter (0.337) showed positive and high direct effect. Hence, genotypes with superior traits may be considered for further improvement. Keywords : Chrysanthemum, correlation and path coefficient, genetic variability, heritability 78 J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023 Gurung et al. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was carried out in the Division of Flower and Medicinal Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, during 2019-20 a nd 2020-21. T he exper imenta l site wa s geographically located at 13o58’ N Latitude, 78oE Longitude and at an elevation of 890 meter above mean sea level. The experiment was carried out to evaluate thirty-one chrysanthemum genotypes for growth and flowering traits under naturally ventilated polyhouse in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The 31 genotypes used as experimental material were A1 Collection, Appu, Arka Chandrakant, Arka Chankdrika, Arka Kirti, Arka Pink Star, Arka Usha Kiran, Arka Yellow Gold, Autumn Joy, Coffee, Fitonia, Flirt, Garden Beauty, Gulmohar, Heritage, Jublee, Marigold, Mayur, NBRI Little Kusum, Pachai Local, Pink Cloud, Ratlam Selection, Rekha, Shukla, Statesman, Sunil, Vasanthika, White Dolley, White Local, White Prolific and Winter Queen. The plants of all genotypes were raised through terminal cuttings taken from healthy stock plants. After transplanting, plants were imposed with photoperiod of 15/9 hours for 30 days after transplanting and black in (dark conditions) until flower bud initiation. Uniform package of practices was followed throughout the experiment to ensure good growth. Five uniformly grown plants per replication were tagged for recording observations for various growth and flowering traits, viz., plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, days to bud initiation, days to first flower opening, number of flowers per plant, optimum flower ing, flower dia meter (cm) and flowering duration (days). The collected data of both the years were pooled and analyzed statistically. The analysis of variance for each character was carried out as suggested by Panse and Sukhatme (1985). The genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variance were calculated as suggested by Burton and De vane (1953) and heritability (broad sense), genetic advance and genetic gain were calculated by the for mula given by Johnson et al. (1955). T he correlations were calculated as per Al-Jibouri et al. (1958) and genotypic correlation coefficient was further partitioned into direct and indirect effect with the help of path coefficient analysis as elaborated by Dewey and Lu (1959). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION T he a na lysis of va r ia nce r evea led significa nt differences among the genotypes for various growth and flowering characters (Table 1). This infers that among the genotypes, wide range of variability exists and substantial improvement in this crop is possible through selection. Estimation of genetic parameters for growth and flowering traits The extent of variability i.e. mean, range, mean, and estimates of genetic parameters such as phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), heritability (broad sense) and genetic advance, genetic advance as per cent of mean for various traits present in chrysanthemum genotypes studied are presented in Table 2. The range of variation was high for number of leaves plant-1 (66.17-164.50) followed by number of flowers plant-1(30.67-116.83) and days to first flower opening (31. 00-88. 33). T he ma gnitude of phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all the characters studied, however, difference a mong GCV and PCV was narrow. This indicates that phenotypic expression of genotypes ma y be genetica lly contr olled a nd environment has slight influence, implying that phenotypic variability could be a reliable measure of genotypic variability. Similar results wer e also reported by Kumari et al. (2017) in China aster and Bennurmath et al. (2018) in Chrysanthemum. Higher Table 1 : Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for morphological traits in chrysanthemum Source of DF Plant Number Number plant-1 Days to Days to Flower Number Flowering variation height of of leaves bud first optimum diameter of duration (cm) branches plant-1 initiation flower flowering (cm) flowers (days) plant-1 opening plant-1 Treatment 30 8,230.95 58.67 13,872.46 471.52 3,867.80 3,852.28 22.18 9,507.31 9,502.86 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Error 62 0.25 12.81 10.19 1.00 4.74 6.02 4.22 0.08 5.29 79 Assessment of genetic variability in Chrysanthemum phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were recorded for number of flowers plant-1(36.48% and 35.92%), plant height (32.12% and 31.12%), number of branches plant-1(27.17% and 26.27%), number of leaves plant-1 (25.77% and 24.55%), days to bud initiation (22.06% and 20.85%) and days to bud first flower opening (21.61% and 20.45%), respectively. For flower diameter, PCV estimates was found to be high (20.02%), and a moderate GCV (18.51%), while, days to optimum flowering (17.04% and 15.02%) and flowering duration (18.27% and 16.41%) showed moderate estimates of PCV and GCV, respectively. Similar results of higher estimates of PCV and GCV were reported in chrysanthemum (Telem et al., 2017 and Henny et al., 2021), gaillardia (Arulmani et al., 2015) and China aster (Rai et al., 2017, Bhargav et al., 2019 and Nataraj et al., 2021). The genotypic coefficient of variation alone is not enough to measure the heritable variations present among the genotypes. To get the best picture of the a mou nt of a dva nc e to be ex p ect ed f r om the selections, it should be considered in conjunction wit h her it a b ilit y es t ima t es ( Bu r t on, 1 9 5 2 ) . However, for more reliable conclusions, heritability es t ima t es a long wit h genet ic ga in a r e mor e meaningful in predicting the best individual for selection than the heritability value alone (Johnson et al. 1955). The herita bility estimates for a ll characters were high (>80%), ranging from 77.72% (days to optimum flowering) to 96.93% (number of flowers plant-1). The genetic advance ranged from 1 . 8 8 ( f lower dia met er ) t o 4 7. 7 1 ( nu mber of leavesplant-1). All the traits had genetic advance as per cent mean estimates of more than 20%, and ranged from 27.28% (days to optimum flowering) to 72.85% (number of flowers plant-1). High values of heritability estimates supplemented with greater genetic gains are indicative of additive gene effects (Narayan et al., 1996); therefore, this offers ample scope for efficient selection. High her ita bility coupled with high expected genetic advance was observed for number of flowers per plant -1 and number of branches plant-1 (Telem et al., 2017), and flower diameter in chrysanthemum (Henny et al., 2021) and days to 50% flowering in China aster (Kumari et al., 2017 and Nataraj et al., 2021). Phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficients for various traits Phenotypic and genotypic correlation analysis is the biometrical technique used to find out the nature and degree of association of traits, prevailing between highly heritable with most economic characters (Kha ngjar a kpa m et al. , 2015). It gives better understanding of the contribution of trait to the genetic make-up of a crop and helps in making indirect Table 2 : Genetic parameters for various growth and flowering traits in chrysanthemum Range Coefficient GCV PCV Heritability Genetic Genetic Minimum Maximum of Variation (%) (%) (%) Advance advance as Trait Mean (%) per cent mean Plant height (cm) 59.09 26.92 103.27 7.93 31.12 32.12 93.90 36.71 62.12 Number of 6.35 3.33 9.67 6.92 26.27 27.17 93.51 3.33 52.33 branches plant-1 Number of leaves 99.08 66.17 164.50 7.85 24.55 25.77 90.71 47.71 48.16 plant-1 Days to bud 21.06 11.17 32.00 7.20 20.85 22.06 89.34 8.55 40.60 initiation Days to first flower 59.4 31.00 88.33 6.98 20.45 21.61 89.57 23.68 39.87 opening Days to optimum 76.23 51.33 104.50 8.04 15.02 17.04 77.72 20.80 27.28 flowering Number of flowers 63.95 30.67 116.83 6.39 35.92 36.48 96.93 46.58 72.85 plant-1 Flower diameter 5.34 3.67 6.90 7.63 18.51 20.02 85.46 1.88 35.24 (cm) Flowering duration 44.43 31.17 61.17 8.02 16.41 18.27 80.71 13.49 30.37 (days) GCV: genotypic coefficient of variation; PCV: phenotypic coefficient of variation J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023 80 selection for improvement of economically important traits. The high positive correlation between the traits shows that selection for improvement of one character results in the improvement of the other and could be useful in developing an effective selection strategy. Correlation coefficients among different traits have been worked out and presented in Table 3. In general, the genotypic correlation coefficients were higher than phenotypic correlation coefficients, which may be due to interaction of genotypes with the environment. In the present study, number of flowers per plant has been taken as dependent variable, whereas, remaining eight characters were considered as independent variables contributing towards number of flowers per plant. The results of correlation coefficient revealed that the number of flowers plant-1exhibited genotypic positive and highly significant correlation with number of br anches pla nt -1 (0. 415) a nd number of lea ves plant-1(0.392), therefore, there is a scope for direct selection of these characters for improvement in number of flowers plant-1. A correlation study suggests that the genotype having higher number of flowers per plant would also possess a greater number of branches and number of leaves plant-1. Significant and positive correlation of number of flowers per plant with plant height and number of br anches in China a ster (Sreenivasulu et al., 2007) and chrysanthemum (Khangjarakpam et al., 2015 and Telem et al., 2017) have been reported. Plant height exhibited positive and highly significant association with days to bud initiation (0.580), days to first flower opening (0.674), days to optimum flowering (0.599), flower diameter (0.510) and flowering duration (0.521). Positive significant corr elation of pla nt height with flower size in chrysanthemum (Raghava et al., 1992) and with days to 50% flowering in China aster (Khangjarakpam et al. (2015) has been reported. This leads to the conclusion that the selection of taller plants results in early bud initiation, first flower opening, optimum flowering, maximum flower diameter and longer flowering duration. Therefore, direct selection of this character results in higher flower yield. Plant Number Number Days Days to Days Flower Flowering Number height of of to first to diameter duration of Trait (cm) branches leaves bud flower optimum (cm) (days) flowers plant-1 plant-1 initiation opening flowering plant-1 Plant height (cm) G 1.000 -0.045 -0.118 0.580** 0.674** 0.599** 0.510** 0.521** -0.008 P 1.000 -0.021 -0.117 0.580** 0.663** 0.588** 0.492** 0.501** -0.008 Number of branches plant-1 G 1.000 0.255* -0.224* 0.104 0.085 -0.083 0.075 0.415** P 1.000 0.094 -0.106 0.072 0.056 -0.026 0.038 0.190 Number of leaves plant-1 G 1.000 -0.274* 0.026 0.044 -0.249* -0.063 0.392** P 1.000 -0.271* 0.022 0.039 -0.242* -0.061 0.387** Days to bud initiation G 1.000 0.621** 0.628** 0.419** 0.324* -0.209* P 1.000 0.612** 0.617** 0.404** 0.311* -0.208* Days to first flower opening G 1.000 0.985** 0.346** 0.584** 0.087 P 1.000 0.969** 0.332* 0.558** 0.086 Days to optimum flowering G 1.000 0.301* 0.571** 0.057 P 1.000 0.30* 0.542** 0.056 Flower diameter (cm) G 1.000 0.361** 0.112 P 1.000 0.338** 0.110 Flower duration (days) G 1.000 -0.010 P 1.000 -0.009 No. of flowers plant-1 G 1.000 P 1.000 Correlation r value at 5% = 0.2038; 1% = 0.3357; *Significant at 5% ; **Significant at 1% Table 3 : Genotypic and phenotypic correlation coefficients for various growth and flowering traits in chrysanthemum J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023 Gurung et al. 81 Table 4 : Path coefficient analysis for various growth and flowering traits in chrysanthemum Plant Number Number Days Days to Days Flower Flowering Number height of of to first to diameter duration of Trait (cm) branches leaves bud flower optimum (cm) (days) flowers plant-1 plant-1 initiation opening flowering plant-1 Plant height (cm) P -0.084 0.002 0.010 -0.049 -0.056 -0.050 -0.041 -0.042 -0.008 G -0.234 0.010 0.028 -0.136 -0.158 -0.140 -0.120 -0.122 -0.008 Number of branches plant-1 P -0.002 0.111 0.011 -0.012 0.008 0.006 -0.003 0.004 0.190 G -0.012 0.267 0.068 -0.060 0.028 0.023 -0.022 0.020 0.415 Number of leaves plant-1 P -0.041 0.033 0.353 -0.096 0.008 0.014 -0.085 -0.021 0.387 G -0.041 0.089 0.347 -0.095 0.009 0.015 -0.087 -0.022 0.392 Days to bud initiation P -0.170 0.031 0.079 -0.293 -0.179 -0.180 -0.118 -0.091 -0.208 G -0.094 0.036 0.044 -0.162 -0.101 -0.102 -0.068 -0.053 -0.209 Days to optimum flowering P 0.415 0.045 0.014 0.383 0.625 0.606 0.207 0.349 0.086 G 1.053 0.162 0.040 0.972 1.564 1.541 0.541 0.913 0.087 Number of flowers plant-1 P -0.219 -0.021 -0.014 -0.229 -0.360 -0.372 -0.112 -0.201 0.056 G -0.794 -0.113 -0.059 -0.832 -1.306 -1.326 -0.430 -0.757 0.057 Flower diameter (cm) P 0.147 -0.008 -0.072 0.121 0.099 0.090 0.299 0.101 0.110 G 0.172 -0.028 -0.084 0.141 0.117 0.109 0.337 0.122 0.112 Flowering duration (days) P -0.054 -0.004 0.007 -0.033 -0.060 -0.058 -0.036 -0.107 -0.009 G -0.058 -0.008 0.007 -0.036 -0.065 -0.064 -0.040 -0.111 -0.010 The number of branches per plant exhibited positive significa nt cor r ela tion with number of lea ves plant-1(0.255), however, it showed negative and significant correlation with number of days to bud initiation (-0.224). Number of leaves plant-1exhibited negative significant correlation with days to bud initiation (-0.274) and flower diameter (-0.249). Days to bud initiation exhibited positive and highly significant correlation with days to first flower opening (0.621), days to optimum flowering (0.628) and flower diameter (0.419), while, positive significant correlation with flowering duration (0.324). However, it showed negative and significant correlation with number of flowers plant-1(-0.209). These results are in close agreement with the findings obtained by Poornima et al. (2007) in China aster and Panwar et al. (2013) in African marigold. The days to first flower opening exhibited positive and highly significant association with days to optimum flowering (0.985), flower diameter (0.346) and flower ing dur a tion (0. 584). Da ys to optimum flowering showed positive and highly significant association with flowering duration (0.571), while, positive significant correlation with flower diameter (0.324). Flower diameter exhibited positive and highly significant correlation with flowering duration (0.361). These results are in close agreement with the findings of Telem et al. (2017) in chr ysa nthemum and Khangjarakpam et al. (2015) in China aster. Path coefficient analysis for various traits Path coefficient analysis divides the association between two traits into direct and indirect effects. Considering number of flowers plant -1 to be a dependent trait, phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of correlation between number of flowers plant-1 and all other characters were further partitioned into direct and indirect effects (Table 4). The residual effect is 0.29, due to the characters not considered for the study. On portioning the phenotypic correlation into direct and indirect effects, maximum positive and high direct effect on number of flowers plant-1was recorded for days to first flower opening (0.625) followed by number of leaves plant-1(0.353). Positive and moderate direct effect on flower diameter (0.299) and positive a nd low dir ect effect on number of br a nches plant-1(0.111) were also recorded. Kumar et al. (2012) observed highest direct positive effect of number of primary branches plant-1 on number of flowers per plant in chrysanthemum at the phenotypic level. The high negative direct effect was recorded for number of flowers plant-1 through days to optimum flowering (-0.372). The negative direct effect was moderate for Assessment of genetic variability in Chrysanthemum J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023 82 days to bud initiation (-0.293), low for flowering duration (-0.107) and negligible for plant height (-0.084). Kumar et al. (2012) observed highest direct negative effect on number of flowers plant-1 via plant height at the phenotypic level. At the genotypic level, very high positive and direct contribution was recorded for days to first flower opening (1.564), high for number of leaves plant-1 (0.347), and flower diameter (0.337) and moderate for number of branches plant-1 (0.267). Kumar et al. (2012) showed positive direct effect of day to flower ing on number of flower s pla nt -1 in chrysanthemum. However, days to optimum flowering (-1.326) had very high negative direct effect, while, plant height (-0.234) had moderate negative direct effect on number of flowers per plant. Days to bud initiation (-0.162) and flowering duration (-0.111) recorded low negative direct effect. Kumar et al. (2012) also observed highest direct negative effect on number of flowers per plant via days to flower bud initiation followed by plant height at flower bud initiation stage in chrysanthemum. CONCLUSION T he study provides the a ctua l infor ma tion on contribution of the characters and thus forms the basis for selection of suitable characters to improve the flower yield. It may be suggested for yield in terms of number of flowers per plant, direct selection of traits such as days to first flower opening, number of leaves per plant, flower diameter and number of branches per plant may be effective in selection of Chrysanthemum. REFERENCES Abrol, A., Dhiman, S.R. and Sharma, P. 2018. Effect of cultivars, growth regulators and photoperiods on production of potted chrysa nthemum, Dendranthema grandiflora T zvelev. Int. J. Farm Sci., 8(4): 66-72. Al-Jibouri, H. A., Millar, P. A. and Ronimsom, H. F. 1 9 5 8 . G enot yp ic a nd envir onment a l var ia nces a nd co-va r ia nces in an upland cotton cross of interspecific origin. J. Agron., 50: 633-636. Allard, R. W. 1960. Principles of Plant Breeding. John Willey and Sons, New York. pp. 20-24. Arulmani, N., Chandrashekar, S. Y., Geeta, K., Rashmi, R., Ravi, C. H. and Praveen, B.Y. 2016. Studies on genetic variability in gaillardia (Gaillardia pulchella Foug.) genotypes. Res. Environ. Life Sci., 9(4): 466-469. Bennurmath, P., Kumar, R., Nair, S.A., Venugopalan, R., Dhananjaya M. V. and Laxman R. H. 2018. Studies on genetic variability, heritability, correlation and path analysis in chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzvelev), Int. J. Bio-resour. Stress Manag, 3(3): 213-218. Bhargav, V., Kumar R., Rao, T.M. and Bharathi, T.U. 2019. Genetic variability, character association and path coefficient analysis in China aster (Callistephus chinensis). Indian J. Agric. Sci., 89(10): 1643-1648. Burton, G. W. 1952. Quantitative inheritance in grasses. Proceedings of the 5th International Grassland Congress, 1: 227-283. Burton, G.W. and De Vane, E.H. 1953. Estimating heritability in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea L.) from replicated clonal material. J. Agron., 45: 478-481. Cockshull, K.E. 1985. Chrysanthemum morifolium, In: A.H. Halvey (ed.). CRC handbook of flowering. Vol. 2. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. pp. 238-257. Dewey, D.R. and Lu, K.H. 1959. A correlation and path analysis of components of crested heat grass seed production. J. Agron., 51: 515-518. Henny, T., Palai, S.K. and Chongloi, L. 2021. Assessment of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in spray chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat). Crop Res., 56(6): 336-340. Johnson, H.W., Robinson, H.F. and Comstock, R.E. 1955. Estimates of genetic and environmental variability in soybean. J. Agron., 47: 314-318. Khangjarakpam, G., Kumar, R., Seetharamu, G.K., Rao, T.M., Dhananjaya, M.V., Venugopalan, R. and Padmini, K. 2015. Character association and path coefficient analysis among quantitative tr a its in China a ster (Callistephus chinensis). Curr. Hortic., 3(1): 35-40. Kumar, M., Kumar, S., Singh, M., Kumar, M. and Sunil Kumar, A. 2012. Studies on correlation a nd pa th a na lysis in chr ysa nthemum J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023 Gurung et al. 83 (Dendranthema grandiflora T zvelev. ). Int. J. Plant Res., 25(2): 62-65. Kumari, P., Kumar R., Rao, T.M., Dhananjay, M.V., Bhargav, V. 2017. Genetic variability, character association and path coefficient analysis in China a ster (Callistephus chinensis L. ). J. Hortic. Sci., 7(2): 3353-3362. Narayan, R., Singh, S.P., Sharma, D.K. and Rastogi, K.B. 1996. Genetic variability and character association in bottle gourd. Indian J. Hortic., 53: 53-58. Na ta ra j, S. K., Seethar a mu, G. K. , Kuma r, R. , Srinivasa, V., Kulkarni, B.S., Venugopalan, R. and Naik, K.B. 2021. Genetic variability and heritability for quantitative traits in China aster [Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees.]. Electron. J. Plant Breed., 12(3): 712-717. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1985. Statistical methods for agr icultura l wor kers. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. p. 250. Panwar, S., Singh, K.P. and Janakiram, T. 2013. Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) genotypes. Prog. Hortic., 45(1): 135-140. Poor nima , G. , Kuma r, D. P. , T hippesha , D. , Ma ha nthesh, B. a nd Na ik, B. H. 2007. Variability and correlation in different cultivars of China aster (Callisttephus chinensis L.). Environ. Ecol., 25(1): 124"127. Raghava. S.P.S., Negi, S. S. and Nancharaiah, D. 1992. Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in chrysanthemum. Indian J. Hortic., 49(2): 200-204. Rai, T.S., Chaudhary, S.V.S., Dhiman, S.R., Dogra, R.K. and Gupta, R.K. 2017. Genetic variability, character association and path coefficient analysis in China aster (Callistephus chinensis). Indian J. Agric. Sci., 87(4): 540-543. Sreenivasulu, G. B., Kulkarni, B. S., Nataraj, S. K., Reddy, B. S., Naik, K. M. and Chandan, K. 2007. Correlation studies for yield and yield contr ibuting cha r a cter s in China a ster (Callistephus chinensis Nees. ). Asian J. Hortic., 2(2): 192-194. Telem, R.S., Sadhukhan, R., Sarkar, H.K., Akoijam, R. , Ha r ibhusha n, A. a nd Wa ni, S. H. 2017.Genetic studies for flower yield and component traits in Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. J. Appl. Nat. Sci.,9(1): 211-214. Vijayakumari, J., Prabha, V.S., Rayan, E.J., Raj, T. L. S. a nd Antony, S. B. 2019. Flor istic diver sity a ssessment of home ga r den in Palayamkottai Region of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu a means of sustainable biodiversity conservation. Int. J. Trend Sci. Res. Dev., 3(3): 1484-1491. (Received : 17.07.2022; Revised : 23.06.2023; Accepted 25.06.2023) Assessment of genetic variability in Chrysanthemum J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 77-83, 2023