Abstract: Leaf characteristics and seedlings growth of Magnolia officinalis from 8 provinces in China were studied.Results show that significant differences existed between plants of different provenances in leaf characteristic,leaf area,specific leaf weight(SLW) and chlorophyll content,and were closely related to some basic environmental factors.Differences between the plants were also significant in seedling height and ground diameter.Seedling height decreased gradually from south to north geographically,while ground diameter declines from east to west.That means the geographic variation of the plant at the seedling stage manifests a two-way variation with the latitude and longitude,but the variation is more significant with the former.Correlation analysis of leaf characteristics with seedling height and ground diameter reveals an extremely significant negative correlation between leaf shape index and leaf width,and an extremely significant positive correlation between leaf area and petiole length,and between leaf length and width.Cluster analysis shows that in some areas,the provenances of M.officinalis are characterized typically by regionalization,and in some,by randomness.

Key words: Magnolia officinali, provenance, leaf characteristics, growth