Eight hundred years of clonal forestry in China: II. mass production of rooted cuttings of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.)

Abstract

Since 1986 a novel type of shoot orchard has been under development. Lower portions of the donor stems are buried horizontally in the soil and cuttings are taken from shoots that arise from them. This process apparently rejuvenates, so that mature trees of various ages can be propagated vegetatively. Seedlings of superior provenances, open-pollinated, and control-pollinated families, stump sprouts and upper branches of plus trees were used to establish the orchard, which contains about 40,000 donors and occupies 1.3 ha. Cuttings produced in this orchard can be rooted to about 85% success without hormones or shading. This shoot orchard provides more planting stock, and provides it five to six years earlier, than a seed orchard. The height and root-collar diameter of the rooted cuttings are greater than those of seedlings at outplant, and production costs are 15–20% lower than those associated with seedling production. Test plantations demonstrated that four-year height and diameter of cuttings and genetically similar seedlings are equivalent. This paper reports the details of this orchard, and summarizes other work on propagation and storage of Chinese fir cuttings.