Basal leaf sheath color
Three colors (green, green with purple lines and purple)
were observed. Major phenotypic variability was
observed in lowland NERICA: green (65%), green color
with purple lines (30%) and purple (5%). However, 90%
of the promising lines showed green basal leaf sheath
color, but only 10% had green color with purple lines. The
parental varieties from Africa had either green basal leaf
sheath color in the frequency of 50% or green to purple
basal leaf sheath color. For the parental varieties from
the Asia, no variability was observed; all varieties had
green basal leaf sheath color.