By the methods of phenotypic identification and SRAP markers amplif cation, the genetic diversities of fourty wild H. compressa clones from southwest China were assessed and classified. The results showed as follows: The phenotypic variations were rich among H. com pressa clones, and the variation coefficient of the phenotypic traits ranged from 12. 9 % - 57. 0 % . Through the cluster analysis based on phenotypic traits, the clones with obvious genetic differences could be distinguished. The tested 40 H. compressa clones could be clustered into three groups, two cloners( H019 and H054) in A group without earring and flower, two cloners( H002 and H050) in B group with long intemode, long stem, long inflorescence, other 36 clones in C group. After the amplication with 15 pairs of SRAP primers, a total of 314 fragments were detected, among which, 290 fragments were polymorphic, accounting for 92. 4 % of the total. The amplified fragments and polymorphic fragments per pair primer combination were averagely 20. 9 and 19. 0, respectively. Polymorphic information content ( PIC) was from 0. 351 to 0. 499, with average of 0. 443, and the similarity coefficient of 40 accessions ranged from 0. 639 to 0. 949. These results suggested that there was rich genetic diversity among the wild resources of H. compressa clones tested. At the genetic similarity coefficient of 0. 730, the H. compressa clones could be classified into three classes, 36 clones belonged to C class, B class included three clones, namely H050, H052 and H053 , and A class had H029 only. The relationship between morphological and SRAP-based genetic distance wasn ' t significant by mental test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]