Genetic and Environmental Variance in Seed and Cone Characteristics of Black Spruce in a Northwestern Ontario Seed Orchard

Abstract

Germination and some seed yield components were evaluated using 1981 cones from ramets of nine clones in a Northwestern Ontario seed orchard. No evidence of dormancy was observed in seed which received no chilling and were germinated under light. Hierarchical analyses of variance indicated that both clones and ramets within clones accounted for substantial amounts of variation in germination percent, filled seed percent, number of seed per cone and cone size. Cone size was only weakly correlated with number of seed per cone (r =.44).