Morphological characteristics of chestnut Castanea sativa from the area of Una-Sana Canton
Una-Sana Canton (USC) has a large forest areas where chestnut Castanea sativa Mill. grows as a self-sprout tree. The aim of this paper was to determine the morphological characteristics of chestnut fruits from four self-sprout locations (Bužim, Bosanska Krupa, Cazin and Velika Kladusa), and plantation where the domestic tree is grafted with Italian Marroni. Number of fruits/kg, the useless fruit, the percentage of kernel, diameter, width, height and weight of fruits were determined. The number of fruit/kg ranged from 160-222.5, percentage of useless fruit varied between 0.88-6.7%. Percentage of kernel ranged from 78.5 to 87.3%. According to the diameter classification, width, height and weight of fruits, chestnuts fruit from USC enters the category of the smallest fruits of the Mediterranean area. Statistical significant differences (p≤0.01) in the number of fruits/kg and weight of fruits was found between locations, as well in the width of the fruit (p≤0.05), while there is no difference in the diameter and height of the fruit. For grafted chestnut, all the characteristics provided better quality.
Castanea pumila (L.) Mill.: An Underused Native Nut Tree
Chinkapins, also spelled “chinquapins” and sometimes called dwarf or bush chestnuts, are shrubs and small trees commonly found throughout the eastern, southern, and southeastern United States. The plants usually bear one nut per bur and have burs (involucres) that open into two halves, such as a clam shell. Some taxonomists and geneticists have separated the chinkapins into eight or more poorly defined taxa based on growth form, leaf morphology,bur characteristics, habitat, and blight susceptibility (Ashe, 1923, 1924; Graves, 1950, 1961; Jaynes, 1975). Species include Castanea pumila (L.) Mill., C. ozarkensis Ashe, C. ashei (Sudw.) Ashe, C. alnifolia Nutt., C. floridana (Sarg.) Ashe, C. paucispina Ashe, C . arkansana Ashe, and C. alabamensis Ashe. Other taxonomists (Johnson, 1987, 1988; Tucker, 1975) have reduced most of these taxa to synonymy within C. pumila var. pumila and indicate that the chinkapin is but a single species, C. pumila, comprising two botanical varieties: vars. ozarkensis (Ashe) Tucker and pumila. Only the Allegheny chinkapin, C. pumila var. pumila (Terrell, 1977) is treated in this report. The Allegheny chinkapin, also called the American, common, or tree chinkapin, may well be our most mistreated and misrepresented native North American nut tree. It has been widely hailed as a sweet and edible nut; wood source for fuel, charcoal, fence posts, and railroad ties; coffee and chocolate substitute; food for wildlife (birds and mammals); dwarfing rootstock for other Castanea spp.; and a blight-resistant taxon for hybridizing with other chestnut species; in addition, the root has been used as an astringent, a tonic, and to treat fevers (Gillespie, 1959; Halls, 1977; Krochmal and Krochmal, 1982; Percher, 1970; Taylor, 1960).
Prediction of Flowering Time in Olive for the Cordoba Olive Collection
The date of full bloom for olive (Olea europaea L.) tree varieties planted inthe World Collection in Cordoba, Spain, has been determined from 10 years of data. The full bloom dates were analyzed using three methods to develop a model predicting flowering time. The method of heat units accumulated before flowering was the most accurate. The heat accumulation periods were determined from phenological and temperature data. Prediction methods were evaluated for the earliest-flowering variety, a model variety representing the mean values for the collection, and the latest-flowering variety []