Abstract: The morphological diversity and classification of 324 common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) germplasm resources were researched in the present study. The results showed that the morphological diversity was high among the accessions assessed. The average diversity index (1.632) was 40.5% higher than that of alien common bean germplasm. The first and second principal components totally represented 44% of morphological diversity. Based on the morphological data, 280 Chinese accessions were clustered into 3 groups. The accessions of the first group had shorter growth period and plant height, bigger seed size, less pods per plant and seeds per pod and determinate growth habit, etc. They were mainly from northeastern and northern regions of China. The accessions in the third group had longer growth period and plant height, smaller seed size, more pods per plant and seeds per pod and indeterminate growth habit, etc. They were mainly from southwestern. The main characters of second group were between the first and the third group. They was distributed widely.

Key words: Common bean, Germplasm resources, Morphological diversity, Cluster analysis