Morphological variability of fruits in the European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) seed progenies in the Castanetarium Horné Lefantovce

Abstract

The paper provides a comprehensive survey of parameters describing morphological variability of chestnut fruits (weight, shape index, colour, size of hilum, fruit partition, colour of kernel, ease of seed coat peeling, taste of kernel) for 86 seed progenies of European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) planted in the Castanetarium Horné Lefantovce. The research was being conducted in 1996-1998. The age of seed progenies at the beginning of the survey was 30-32 years. The results revealed that many morphological traits were dependent on the seed progeny's provenance (selection tree, locality and sub-region of cultivation) and on climate history in the relevant year.