Abstract:

【Objective】This paper aimed to understand the flowering phenology and synchrony of elite trees of Chinese fir and to select clones with a high synchronization index to guide the parent selection of mating design and seed orchards.【Method】Fixed samples was adopted to classify the male and female flower types and phenology of 94 grafted clones of Chinese fir elite trees; the flowering synchronization index was used to analyze the synchronization of different flowering types.【Result】The female flowers entered the flowering period on average three days earlier than the male cones. The initial duration of the female and male flowers was about 1-8 and 1-9 days, and the peak period was about four days later, lasting 2-20 and 2-13 days. After 10 and 6 days, it became the final stage; the proportions of clones with all female, partial female, neutral, partial male and all male were 3.2%, 4.3%, 5.3%, 72.3% and 14.9%, respectively. As father and mother of the hybrid parent, the average synchronization index was between 0.097-0.561 and 0.128-0.630. Among 7 280 mating combinations, the minimum and maximum values of the synchronization index were 0 and 0.976, respectively, and the flowering synchronization index of 58% clones was higher than 0.5, which of “early type × early type”, “middle type × early type” and “middle type × middle type” were all higher than 0.64.【Conclusion】There are differences in flowering among clones, and climatic conditions affect the differentiation of male and female flowers. The early type and middle type possess higher flowering synchronization indexes.

Key words: Chinese fir(Cunninghamia lanceolate), clonal archive, flowering phenology, synchronization index, reproductive characteristics