Crown structure of 25-year-old Siberian stone pine grafts from mother trees of different ages

Inheritance of the age-specific traits of the Siberian stone pine crown structure by vegetative progeny was analyzed. Studies were carried out on 25-year-old grafts onto the same species seedlings as rootstocks. Scions for grafting were sampled from two groups of trees: young-mature (YM) and old growth (OG) trees in the southeast of the West Siberian Plain. The analysis of graft development showed that the YM trees had a significantly higher and thicker trunk, and their crowns were broader and denser due to a larger number of shoots. They multiplied by means of the branching feature due to the predominance of axes 2-3 branching orders. The OG trees formed small and transparent crowns that visually resembled separate branches from the upper parts of the crown of ontogenetically old trees. It was suggested that in the vegetative progeny of trees of a different ontogenetic state, the growth potential was epigenetically inherited.