Abstract:To explore the distribution area, morphological characteristics, and genetic diversity of agronomic traits of Jiulong ancient tea germplasm resources in Ganzi, Sichuan province, China. 21 qualitative traits and 12 quantitative traits in 67 Jiulong ancient tea germplasm resources were evaluated, followed by the genetic diversity using basic statistical analysis, coefficient of variation, diversity index, principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The results showed that Jiulong ancient tea resources had rich variation at different agronomic traits. Except for tree type and growth habit, the genetic diversity index of qualitative traits ranges from 0.17 to 1.27, with an average of 0.82. Among them, the smallest of diversity index is petal color, and the largest is the fruit shape. The coefficient of variation of quantitative traits ranges from 1.38% to 29.94%, with an average of 15.27%. The highest coefficient of variation is leaf area, while the lowest is the number of sepal. Principal component analysis showed that the cumulative contribution rate of the first 11 principal components was 76.49%, among which leaf width, leaf length, leaf color, and petal color were the main factors that affected the differences at agronomic traits of Jiulong ancient tea germplasm resources. The cluster analysis showed that these ancient tea resources divided into four categories when the distance coefficient was 16.9, and the clustering results have no significant correlation with altitude and region. Among the germplasm resources investigated in this study, 13 of them are located at an altitude of 2400 meters or above, showing good growth, satisfactory cold and drought resistance. In addition, there are two germplasms with unique petal color and one germplasm has larger grains and higher fruiting rate. The results laid a foundation for the collection, protection, and utilization of germplasm resources of Jiulong ancient tea germplasm resources.