Correlations of traits of the flower, leaf and fruit of Sargent’s apple tree (Malus sargentii Rehd.)

Abstract

Malus sargentii Rehd. is a highly ornamental species, also used as a pollinator in industrial gardens. The species remains poorly studied. There are no data in the literature on the conjugation of the traits of flowers, fruits, and leaves. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to clarify the presence of correlations between traits for further selection. The object of the study is Sargent’s apple tree. 6 flower traits, 6 fruit parameters and 9 leaf traits are described. It was found that out of 210 correlation coefficients, 27 coefficients are reliable. 3 pleiades of signs were revealed: fruit diameter, fruit weight, fruit length; leaf blade length, leaf length; length of the right stipule, width of the right stipules, width of the left stipules. An inverse correlation was found between the length of the filament and the width of the leaf in the middle of the leaf blade (r=-0.68). The parameters of the fruit are closely related to the characteristics of the flower: the thickness of the pedicel correlates with the length of the filament (r=0.58), the length of the fruit (r=0.59), the diameter of the fruit (r=0.64), and the width of the right stipule (r=0.53) with the leaf characteristic. ). The number of flowers in the corymb is related to the length of the pedicel (r=0.60), and there is also a relationship between fruit weight and fruit length (r=0.61).