Variation and Selection of Seedling Growth Traits Among Cyclobalanopsis glauca Provenances and Families

By testing the genetic variation of growth traits among provenances and families of Cyclobalanopsis glauca and selecting superior provenances and families. In this study, 4 growth traits of 3-year-old seedlings of 54 families of C. glauca from 10 provenances of 5 provinces were studied. The findings indicated that the average tree height, ground diameter, crown width and branch number of 3-year-old C. glauca were 1.19 m, 1.70 cm, 0.92 m and 8.04, respectively. Most of the traits reached significant differences among various sources. The coefficient of variation of these traits ranged from 11.60% to 45.59%. The family heritability and individual heritability of these traits ranged from 0.11 to 0.37 and from 0.06 to 0.28, respectively. The genetic correlation coefficient between the traits reached significant or extremely significant level. Two superior provenances 5 superior families were selected by comprehensive index selection. The genetic gains of 4 traits of the families selected were 7.35%, 6.44%, 4.21% and 2.14%, respectively. The seedling growth traits of C. glauca have rich variations among provenances and families, with the provenance and family selection having great potential. Two superior provenances of C. glauca were selected out by the comprehensive selection index, i.e., one from Chengbu of Hunan and the other from Sangzhi of Hunan. Five excellent families were selected, including No. 45, No. 44, No. 51, No. 10 and No. 52.