A Preliminary Study on Genetic Variations in Ornamental Traits of Young Taxus chinensis var. mairei Plantation with Varied Geographic Provenances

Based on the collection of 25 geography provenances from 10 provinces in south China, a comparative experiment with the geographical provenances of Taxus chinensis var. mairei with landscaping characters was conducted in Mingxi County of Fujian Province. The growth results of the 2 years old young stands showed that there were significant differences in the tree height, basal diameter, crown breadth, number of first cycle of lateral branches, the fresh weight of the above ground biomass, the fresh weight of root biomass and other indices among the provenances. There were high levels of the broad heritability and the genetic variation coefficient among the 6 ornamental traits. The root biomass, the above ground biomass, the plant height were all significantly and positively correlated to the other ornamental characteristics. There was no significantly positive correlation between the basal diameter and the number of first cycle of lateral branches, neither between the crown breadth and the number of first cycle of lateral branch.