Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo (Orchidaceae) is an important endangered medicinal herb, distributed in subalpine to alpine regions of the Himalayas. Its tubers are important constituents of many medicines and health tonics. Overexploitation for medicinal uses has decreased availability in natural habitats and this species has been enlisted as endangered, making conservation and cultivation studies necessary. Variability studies may serve as an important tool for effective conservation and for a crop improvement program. Therefore, natural populations of D. hatagirea were analyzed for variability on the basis of morphological, biochemical, and isoenzyme patterns. The studied populations were grouped into two clusters. Existing variability among different populations opens up new areas for conservation and perspectives for a genetic improvement program for D. hatagirea. 1. Introduction The genus Dactylorhiza (Orchidaceae) is represented by approximately 75 species, distributed in most parts of Northern temperate zone. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soo is a perennial orchid, native to the Himalayan region [1]. This species is distributed in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. In India, it is distributed in Jammu and Kashmir [2], Uttarakhand [3–5], and Himachal Pradesh [6]. Tubers of this species are supposed as a potent medicine in Leucorrhea in Traditional System of Medicine (TSM) rich source of mucilage and are used to make Salep, as food and medicine [7], useful as expectorant and astringent [8]. Recently herbal health beverages have also been developed from this species [9]. The species has been categorized as endangered [10], due to overexploitation of tubers for medicinal value, habitat degradations, and other biotic interferences in its distribution ranges. The market demand of this species is increasing while supply is gradually decreasing [11] that call for conservation as well as cultivation. Effective conservation, management, and recovery of rare and endangered species can be achieved through variability analysis. Variations in morphological appearance among the members of a species become important to the biologist solely because they indicate the presence or absence of physiological attributes that are of ecological significance. Statistical methods including principle components or cluster analysis can be used as useful tools for screening of such populations [12]. Adequate information is available on the distribution pattern [4, 5], medicinal properties [7–9] and propagation methods [13] of D. hatagirea but there
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