VARIETY AND PROVENANCE SELECTION OF CARIBAEA PINE IN SOUTHERN CHINA

Varieties and provenances of Pinus caribaea have been tested at 4 sites on Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong Province and Hainan Island since 1983 and 1984 respectively. The 5-year-old and 4-year-old results show that there arc significant differences in growth rate among the three varieties and the interaction between variety and environment is also significant. On Leizhou Peninsula, P. caribaea var. bahamensis and P. caribaea var. caribaea are the suitable varieties which grow fast and have high resistance to disease and insects, while P. caribaea var. hondurensis not only is subject to the infection of tip moth and leaf wilt disease, but also has a low survival rate and unstable performance. However, on Hainan Island, the growth rate of P. caribaea var. bahamensis and P. caribaea var. hondurensis is much greater than that of P. caribaea var. caribaea.Within a variety, the best provenances of P. caribaea var. bahamensis are from Abaco Island and Byfield (Queensland, Australia), the worst provenances are from Andros Island and the land race of Zhanjiang, China. All provenances of P. caribaea var. hondurensis except those of Los Limones and Santa Clara grow relatively well both on Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island, There is no significant differences among the provenances of P. caribaea var. caribaea.