THE EIGHT YEAR RESULT FROM A SPECIES AND PROVENANCE TEST OF LARCH

This paper deals with the results of a provenance trial of larch (Larix) at the age of eight.In this trial,larix gmelini (Rupr.) Rupr.of 4 provenances,Larix olgensis Henry of 6 provenances,larix sibirica Led.of 2 provenances,larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr of 9 provenances,and larix leptolepis (Sieb.et Zuce.) Gord.of 7 secondary provenances were involved.The analysis of variance suggested that the difference among and within species are high for many characters studied,i.e.height at age 2,8,survival at age 3 and 8,and phenological phases.Geographic variables of the seed sources,e.g.latitude and longitude were not related to those characters mentioned above,i.e.the genetic variation pattern of larch appeared to be random.Japanese larch had a height advantage over the other four species up to age 8.Auto-correlations of height growth among species and among provenances of each species at different ages are large enough to encourage the use of early results to predict future performances.The high correlation coefficent (r=0.998 5**) of tree height between two planting sites established with same seedlots in this provenance test showed that the experimental results were reliable.