| Summary: | Stevia cultivation is a viable agricultural activity in Colombia and the Caribbean region, which is based on the Morita II clone, representing a high risk of biotic and abiotic factors. For this reason, the morphoagronomic characterization of 25 clones from the germplasm collection at the University of Córdoba is important in order to group them according to their genetic affinity, and to identify and select those with the best agronomic advantages. For this purpose, 19 morpho-agronomic descriptors were applied (11 quantitative and 8 qualitative); a dendrogram was performed using Ward's method to distinguish among groups and a multivariate analysis of principal components to identify the descriptors that contributed to variability. Two main components were identified, the first, contributing with 47,74% and the second with 21,67% of the total variation, supported by performance-related characters. Likewise, the identification of 6 late flowering clones, dry leaf production and erect growth habit, which is of interest to advance in genetic breeding programs in the species.
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