Comparison of Old and Landraces Varieties of the Apple Tree (Malus domestica Borkh) in the Variability of Some Morphological Characters of Leaves and Flowers

Abstract

Old and landraces varieties of cultivated plant species selected from natural populations adapted to long-term cultivation, which represent a rich genetic potential for the development of agroecosystems and agriculture under specific conditions, resources for an environment aestheticization, landscaping and development of cultural traditions. The research focused on determining the economic value of a selected collection of old and landraces varieties and fruit-bearing seedlings of apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh), widespread in Slovakia for their practical use in organic farming or as genetic resources for breeding new varieties for organic food production. For experimental evaluation, we used 73 old and landraces varieties of apple trees concentrated and preserved ex-situ in a clone repository in the village Bacúch and 77 fruit-bearing seedlings, which originated from free pollination and grown on various places registered in-situ. By morphological analysis we determined for old and landraces varieties / fruit-bearing seedlings the range for the length of leaf blade 37,41–97,50 mm / 57,54–107,93  mm, width of the leaf blade 27.00–66.44 mm / 30.08–62.18 mm, the diameter of flowers 35.43–54.85 mm / 32.55–62.08 mm, length of petals 15.48 – 24.41 mm / 14.63–28.06 mm. The results document that in both collections of old and landraces varieties and fruit-bearing seedlings, we detected genotypes suitable for organic cultivation, such as germplasm for apple breeding for agroecological usage.