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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 22, Number 1 (1971) → Loss of Shortleaf Pine Flowers Under Natural Conditions - A Probable Explanation for High Losses in Controlled Pollinations

Loss of Shortleaf Pine Flowers Under Natural Conditions - A Probable Explanation for High Losses in Controlled Pollinations

For some time, controlled pollinations of shortleaf pines in the Tennessee Valley Authority breeding program have shown a low rate of success; only 40 percent of pollinated flowers produced mature cones. This figure agrees with that of Snyder and Squillace (1966) for the southern pines. Soon after the first crosses were made, these flower losses provoked the question of whether they were caused by the bagging and/or hand pollination process, or whether they were the result of a natural phenomenon common to both bagged and unbagged flowers. Snyder and Squillace did not answer this question. Either type of loss could be compensated for by more than doubling the required number of pollinated flowers, a choice that would also more than double the workload. However, a procedural cause might be corrected, thereby saving much effort.


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Author(s): Donovan C. Forbes

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 22, Number 1 (1971)

Volume: 22

Number: 1