© 1989 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Seasonal changes in intensity of bud dormancy in loblolly pine seedlings
James N. Boyer and David B. South
School of Forestry and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University, AL 36849-5418, USA / Received November 5, 1987
Summary
The terminal buds of six-month-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) seedlings remained closed for approximately six months, although bud dormancy, as measured by rate of bud break in a
standard greenhouse environment, was only exhibited for about one month. The peak of bud dormancy was in December for seedlings
grown near Auburn, Alabama. However, the timing and intensity varied with seed source and may have been affected by the warm
fall temperatures. Seedlings from the more northern provenances entered dormancy first and reached a deeper state of dormancy
than seedlings from southern provenances. The rate of shoot elongation was not consistently related to the rate of bud break.
