Twelve qualitative traits and 9 quantitative traits of 63 sesame genotypes had been analyzed for genetic diversity by using cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The results showed that abundant genetic diversity existed among the sesame in Hunan. The genetic diversity index of stem fluff(1.310)was the highest among the 12 quality traits, the lowest is phyllotaxis(0). The genetic variation of infertile(39.962%) was the highest among the 9 quantitative traits, the lowest was 1 000-seed weight. The principal components analysis based on 9 quantitative traits, indicated the accumulative contribution of 74.076% was from the top 4 principal components. Sixty-three sesame germplasm accessions were classified into 4 groups. The genotypes from the first group(24) could be used for a candidate group for breeding sesame varieties with more than four arrises; the genotypes from the second group(34) could be used for a candidate group for breeding varieties with high yield; the genotypes from the third group(2) could be used for a candidate group for breeding varieties with dwarf or varieties with longer capsule lengths; the genotypes from the fourth group(3) could be used for a candidate group for breeding varieties with branch.