Abstract

Seedling of Pinus taiwanensis Hay. From 28 progenies of 8 natural populations planted at three different elevations were compared for six morphological characters: leaf color, leaf density, leaf length, total height of seedling, length of epicotyl, and the number of lateral buds. The variation of leaf color and number of buds showed no definite geographic pattern. Leaf density, leaf length, total height, and epicotyl length had significant difference both between regions and among progenies within each region. The correlation between total height and epicotyl length was highly significant. Another significant correlation was between leaf length and epicotyl length. Regression coefficient for leaf density, leaf length, total height, and epicotyl length related to the altitude of seed regions were negative. Growth of 9-month seedlings regressed significantly on the 5-month and 7-month seedlings in all observed characters except the leaf color of 5-month seedling. The interactions between seed origin and nursery site were significant in leaf density, total height, epicotyl length, and number of lateral buds but not significant in leaf length. For lwaf color there was no interaction.