Vegetative Propagation and Morphological Characteristics of Amelanchier spp. with High Value as Fruit Tree for Landscaping

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the growth characteristics and propagation methods of the Korean native Amelanchier asiatica, A. arborea, and A. alnifolia as fruit trees for gardens. Due to the lack of recent research on Amelanchier spp., their superficial classification is still unclear and the names are being used interchangeably. The results are obtained as follows : A. arborea and A. alnifolia were globular type multi-stemmed shrubs. A 20-year-old tree of A. asiatica was 7.8m in height, with a 5.2m crown width, with one trunk. As for the morphological characteristics, leaves of A. asiatica were oblong, with an acuminate of, 6.1cm and 3.6cm width, but A. arborea and A. alnifolia had acute obovate leaves. The leaf size of A. alnifolia was the largest among the three species. The flower size of A. asiatica was bigger than that of A. arborea and A. alnifolia. In addition, its petals and flower clusters were also the largest among the three species. The flowering of A. asiatica initiated on April 21 and then bloomed for a duration of 24 days in Osan, while that of A. arborea and A. alnifolia initiated flowering on April 12 and then bloomed for a duration of 22 days in the same location. The fruit of A. arborea and A. alnifolia were green on May 10∼12, it changed into purplish red on May 24∼26, and its matured on June 1∼3. The duration of fruit persistence of A. arborea and A. alnifolia were 48∼50 days. On the other hand, A. asiatica showed greenish fruit on May 20, it became red on September 4, and had fallen by October 3. The fruit size was the largest at 1.03cm of height and 1.12cm of diameter in the A. arborea, followed by the big berry of A. alnifolia and the smallest fruit in the native, A. asiatica. It was difficult to root due to the hardwood cutting of A. arborea at a 40% rate of rooting. In the softwood cutting, the rooting rate of A. arborea was increased by the treatment with concentrated IBA, especially at 5,000 and 7,000ppm. The optimum date for cutting was on June 27, when the rooting rate was more than 80%. The most effective method for rooting of A. arborea was rootone or 7,000 ppm IBA treatment on June 27 softwood cuttings, which showed a rooting rate of over 80%.