© 1991 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Crown structure and partitioning of aboveground biomass before the competition phase in a mixed stand of normal-crowned Norway
spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and pendulous Norway spruce (Picea abies f. pendula (Lawson) Sylven)
P. Pulkkinen
Foundation for Forest Tree Breeding, Viljatie 4 A 5, SF-00700 Helsinki, Finland / Received June 13, 1990
Summary
Crown characteristics, in particular the distribution of needle and branch-wood biomass, of 20 pendulous Norway spruce (Picea abies f. pendula (Lawson) Sylven) trees with a heritable narrow crown form and 15 normal-crowned (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees were studied in a 19-year-old stand. The form of the crown is conical in normal-crowned trees and columnar
and narrow in pendulous trees. The columnar form results from the production of thin and hanging branches. The partitioning
of aboveground biomass to stems was significantly higher in pendulous (0.37) than in normal-crowned trees (0.29). Needle biomass
in pendulous trees was distributed higher in the crown than in normal-crowned trees. Pendulous trees had a higher needle biomass/branch-wood
biomass ratio than normal-crowned trees.
