The influence of heterostyly on the fructification of two Chaenomeles species

Abstract

The fructification of Chaenomeles japonica Lindl. and Ch. x superba grown in the Botanical Garden in Lublin was investigated in 1999 and 2002-2003. The influence of heterostyly on the degree of fruit setting and considerable morphological differences between fruits were examined. The three form heterostyly influenced the fruit to flowers ratio and fruit weight. Long-styled flowers set significantly more fruit (approx. 70%) and of higher weight (approx. 26g) in comparison to fruit from midstyled flowers - 50% and 20g, respectively. The higher yield was obtained from Chaenomeles japonica ~ 1-2kg. The average yield of Ch. x superba was ~0.9kg. While planting Chaenomeles shrubs for fruit production, attention should be paid to the participation of flower types with the view to eliminating shrubs with the domination of short-styled flowers with degenerated ovary.