Flowering and cone bearing of Picea abies grafts in second-generation seed orchards

In 2004, abundant flowering of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) was observed in two second- generation seed orchards: (1) ‘Outbreeding’, promoting crossing between clones of five geographically distant populations; and (2) ‘Kolonowskie’, restoring a population whose offspring exists only in an international experiment (IUFRO 1964/1968). In bothseed orchards, female strobili were produced by 91.3% and 91.7% of clones, represented by 64.1% and 55.5% of grafts, respectively, and statistically significant differences between clones were found in the number of mature cones. In the case of the seed orchard ‘Outbreeding’, the number of mature cones in individual clones was significantly correlated with latitude of the origin of maternal populations (r = 0.8826, p = 0.0470). The majority (95%) of cones in seed orchards ‘Outbreeding’ and ‘Kolonowskie’ were produced by only 28.2% and 38.5% of all clones, and 21.4% and 25.7% of all grafts, respectively. These data attest to a disparity between the level of genetic diversity in seed orchard progeny resulting from the observed numbers of cone-bearing clones and grafts and the genetic diversity expected from the actual participation of clones and grafts in seed orchard composition. The estimated seed production per 1 ha of seed orchard area in 2004 reached 21.05 kg for ‘Outbreeding’ and 21.72 kg for ‘Kolonowskie’.