“…A cypress breeding program conducted in Italy by IPSP-CNR has been mainly based on the evaluation of clones in experimental plots. The use of clones, obtained via vegetative propagation (grafting), allows the replication of selected traits, such as resistance to cypress canker disease, habitus, and growth, which are important for ornamental purposes, for the production of wood, and for windbreaks ( Raddi and Panconesi, 1991 ; Danti et al., 2006 ; Danti et al., 2013 ; Nocetti et al., 2015 ; Nocetti et al., 2017 ). The use of clones allows for more accurate evaluation of G×E interaction and genotypic stability compared to the use of seed progenies ( Bentzer et al., 1988 ).…”