Anomalous needle numbers on dwarf shoots of Pinus mugo and P. uncinata [Pinaceae]

The frequency of occurrence of abnormal, three- (or more) needle dwarf shoots of most southern and central European two-needle pine (Pinus) species were studied. No specimens with more than two-needle dwarf shoots were found in a population of P. nigra Arnold subsp. salzmannii (Dunal) Franco from the Iberian Peninsula and in two populations of P. uliginosa Neumann from the Sudeten Mountains in Central Europe. Single specimens were found within one population of P. pinaster Aiton from the Iberian Peninsula and among six populations of P. sylvestris L. from the Iberian Peninsula and Central Europe. Abnormal dwarf shoots mostly with three, but also four, five or six needles were found among 24 of 25 surveyed populations of P. mugo Turra and P. uncinata Ramond. The average frequency of specimens with at least one three-needle dwarf shoot was 24% for P. mugo and 20% for P. uncinata. The frequencies of occurrence varied significantly among studied populations and were highest in samples collected from the upper elevational range limits of the species in the mountains and near the northern limits of their ranges. The frequency of abnormal dwarf shoots in the same populations was significantly high in 2-3 consecutive years. Needles from three-needle dwarf shoots were not significantly shorter than those of two-needle shoots

Genetic differences between two Polish populations of Pinus uliginosa, compared to P. sylvestris and P. mugo

Genetic differences between two populations of P. uliginosa from Batorów and Węgliniec were assessed on the basis of 15 allozyme loci. The level of genetic differentiation between them was also compared with genetic differences among the three closely related pine taxa: P. uliginosa, P. sylvestris and P. mugo. A high level of genetic variation was found in both populations of P. uliginosa. The average (Na) and effective (Ne) numbers of alleles per locus amounted respectively to 2.47 and 1.50 in Węgliniec and to 2.67 and 1.52 in Batorów and the percentage of polymorphic loci was 80% and 87%, respectively. Close relationship between the three studied species were confirmed. The genetic differences between the two populations of P. uliginosa were substantial, as the Nei's genetic distance between the two populations (D = 0.040) was larger than between populations of P. sylvestris and between populations of P. mugo. The relatively high level of genetic differentiation between P. uliginosa populations may result from their isolation, small size and possibly different origin of these populations

Geographic patterns of genetic diversity of Pinus mugo (Pinaceae) in Central European mountains

The genetic diversity within and among twelve populations (379 individuals) of Pinus mugo from the Giant Mts., Carpathians and Alps was analyzed using ten chloroplast microsatellite markers. A stepwise mutation model (SMM) for microsatellite loci was used in order to estimate divergence between populations and provenances from three mountain ranges. High levels of genetic diversity and significant differentiation were found among the three population groups. The populations from Giant Mts., Carpathians and Alps were strongly differentiated between each other, while differences among populations within these massifs were much lower. The pattern of genetic structure observedin dwarf mountain pine can be characteristic in conifers with a disjunctive geographic distribution. The significant genetic structuring among isolated parts of the geographic range of the species may be a result of an ancient fragmentation andlong lasting geographic isolation between the Giant Mts., Alpine and Tatra populations of P. mugo

Morphological variation of Juniperus oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa [Cupressaceae] in three Italian localities

The intra- and interpopulational geographic variation of three distant populations of J. oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa was examined biometrically on the basis of morphological key-characters of needles, seeds and cones. The shortest Euclidean distances were used in the agglomerative grouping of closest neighbourhood and discrimination analysis with principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to verify the south-north differentiation of the taxon in Italy. Most of the cone and seed dimensional characters are correlated. No significant correlations were found between cone and needle characters. The sampled populations differ only insignificantly from one another, while the intrapopulational variation is slightly higher. Cone length as well as seed number, width and thickness were significantly correlated with geographic latitude, while the other four characters are not. Differences in cone shape were observed between individuals, so that several morphotypes can be distinguished

Taxonomic position of Pinus ceciliae (Pinaceae) endemic for Balearic Islands as revealed on needle characteristics

The Cecilian pine (Pinus ceciliae) is endemic to Balearic islands (Spain). It is a small taxon, some- times treated as synonym of Aleppo pine (P. halepensis), to which is closely related, differing mainly with dense crown shape and upright branches. The other characteristics, which differ between P. ceciliae and P. halepensis concern the cone scale and needle length only. We examined biometrically needles of Cecilian pine from Mallorca (5 tress) and Menorca (9 trees) islands, and compared them to Aleppo pine populations rep- resented by 30 trees from each island. Each tree was represented by 5 needles, and they were studied with respect to 17 morphological and anatomical characteristics. We detected that needles of the Cecilian pine were smaller, but only when compared to the Aleppo pine from the same island. In general, this difference was also observed in the number of resin canals, number of stomata and stomatal rows. Interestingly, the proportions of the needle dimensions pattern were similar in both taxa. In conclusion we stated the results support the taxonomic rank of Cecilian pine as a variety, Pinus halepensis var. ceciliae (Llorens & L.Llorens) L.Llorens, Fl. Països Catalans, 1: 197 (1984

Relationships among Abies nebrodensis, A. alba and A. cephalonica in the morphological and anatomical needle characteristics

We used 39 morphological and anatomical needle traits in the biometric comparisons Abies nebrodensis with A. alba and A. cephalonica. The multivariate analyses were utilised and a closer relationship of A. nebrodensis to A. cephalonica than to A. alba was detected, in contrast to what has been shown for cone characteristics

Tree-like pines on the Mshana peat bog in the Gorgany Mountains: a trace of Pinus uliginosa migration in the east Carpathians?

The taxonomic position of the population of tree-like, mostly polycormic individuals of pines from the Mshana peat bog in the Gorgany Mountains (East Carpathians, Ukraine) has been studied on the basis of the morphological characteristics of cones and needles, and anatomical characteristics of the needles. These features have been compared with the surrounding Pinus mugo population as well as P. uliginosa, P. mugo, P. sylvestris and P. uncinata from natural populations of the taxa. Tree-like individuals were found to have the most similar needles to P. uliginosa, but most similar cone characteristics to P. mugo. It was concluded, that the tree-like population has a relic character and can present the trace of the early migration of P. uliginosa from the West and its hybridisation with P. mugo