Study on growth dynamics of Sophora flavescens from different germplasm sources

The growth dynamics of Sophora flavescens from different sources which were Chengde City, Hebei Province, Lushi County, Henan Province, Min County and Cheng County, Gansu Province, were studied. The results showed a similar growth dynamics of stem, leaves and root for different source germplasms. The highest number of leaf and leaf dry weight were observed in late August, and for the roots, it appeared in the late October. However, significant differences in terms of biomass among five source germplasms were observed. S. flavescens from Chengde City attained the lowest stem height but the highest root dry weight compared with the others. A relative higher leaf growth rate in the earlier stage and earlier defoliation in the late stage was also observed in Chengde City germplasm, which indicated its earlymaturing characteristics. The germplasms from Gansu provience attained the highest plant height with plenty leaves, intermediate production, later defoliation which indicated its latematuring characteritics. The germplasm from Lushi County, Henan Province attained the lowest production.