Ohio State University Extension Bulletin

West Virginia Seed Sources of Balsam Fir

Research Bulletin 1191-99

Numbers of Lateral Limbs

Differences Between Locations
The number of lateral limbs that develop on terminal shoots of trees can affect the density of trees and the length to which leaders can be cut when trees are sheared. For trees of the six seed-collection areas, numbers of lateral limbs on six-year-old trees were significantly lowest (7.0) for the North Carolina origins and ranged from 9.3 to 10.8 for West Virginia source trees (Table 5). In other studies, smaller numbers of lateral limbs were noted on North Carolina than on Canaan Valley, West Virginia, trees [Brown 1983, Brown and Heiligmann (unpublished data); Figure 10].

Table 5. Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranking of Lateral Limbs, Branch Angle,
Density, and Shape of Trees of Individual Half-Sib Families (West Virginia) and
Stand Collections (North Carolina).

SS
No.1

 Lat. Lmbs.2 Top Branch Ang.3 Tree Shape Tree Density5
Mean
No.		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
O		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
Rtng5 		S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4 Mean
Rtng6		 S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4
Blister Run, WV
350 13.2 36 47 28.3 39 38 1.89 28 13 1.50 28 20
351 7.7 73 7 23.3 37 9 2.25 22 35 1.56 22 24
352 12.5 82 45 26.9 31 29 2.15 27 30 1.65 24 35
353 10.2 71 27 30.7 24 45 2.00 23 21 1.25 26 3
355 13.6 60 49 27.6 27 35 2.12 23 28 1.50 28 21
356 10.0 80 25 28.8 30 40 1.98 33 20 1.39 29 12
360 10.1 68 26 25.8 30 22 1.89 33 12 1.64 27 31
361 13.9 67 50 33.4 28 48 2.19 20 32 1.47 23 16
363 8.5 64 14 26.2 35 26 2.33 23 42 1.64 40 32
364 8.3 65 10 27.1 31 32 1.84 26 10 1.39 20 11
Mean 10.8 21 6 27.7 32 5 2.06 8 3 1.50 9 3

SS
No.1

 Lat. Lmbs.2 Top Branch Ang.3 Tree Shape Tree Density5
Mean
No.		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
O		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
Rtng5 		S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4 Mean
Rtng6		 S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4
Blister Swamp, WV
366 9.4 67 19 25.0 46 18 2.31 21 39 1.56 37 25
367 8.1 88 9 23.7 39 12 2.34 31 43 1.91 27 45
368 7.7 95 6 26.3 38 27 2.35 27 45 1.68 17 37
369 7.5 68 5 25.3 29 20 2.34 24 44 2.00 26 48
372 10.6 73 33 30.2 32 44 2.09 27 25 1.70 29 39
373 9.5 67 20 22.9 33 5 2.25 25 34 1.72 34 40
375 7.9 72 8 29.4 44 41 2.35 23 46 1.65 25 34
378 11.3 74 39 24.3 41 15 2.07 21 24 1.33 32 8
379 11.2 92 38 26.9 37 30 1.97 35 19 1.58 30 28
380 9.7 81 22 22.2 32 4 2.33 27 41 1.66 42 33
Mean 9.3 15 2 25.7 38 2 2.24 6 5 1.68 11 5

SS
No.1

 Lat. Lmbs.2 Top Branch Ang.3 Tree Shape Tree Density5
Mean
No.		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
O		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
Rtng5 		S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4 Mean
Rtng6		 S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4
Stone Coal Run, WV
381 9.8 99 23 24.2 33 14 2.26 20 36 1.74 28 41
384 10.2 71 28 23.2 28 7 2.61 20 50 2.13 23 50
385 9.0 73 16 20.7 37 3 1.83 42 9 1.67 29 36
386 9.4 67 18 24.5 39 17 2.30 23 40 1.79 28 43
387 6.5 85 1 26.0 37 23 2.14 27 29 1.64 32 30
389 13.5 75 48 24.3 34 15 2.23 32 33 1.90 36 44
390 10.6 81 35 19.0 39 1 2.45 22 48 2.05 29 49
393 12.5 66 46 23.0 45 6 2.29 29 37 1.93 26 46
394 7.5 68 4 26.0 32 23 2.11 29 27 1.75 31 42
395 10.5 67 31 26.2 35 25 1.95 28 18 1.58 24 27
Mean 10.0 21 3 23.7 36 1 2.22 10 4 1.81 10 6

SS
No.1

 Lat. Lmbs.2 Top Branch Ang.3 Tree Shape Tree Density5
Mean
No.		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
O		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
Rtng5 		S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4 Mean
Rtng6		 S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4
Canaan Valley, State Park, WV
397 10.3 82 29 29.5 26 42 1.82 39 7 1.42 26 14
398 10.6 64 32 23.4 29 11 2.06 31 23 1.59 30 29
399 10.6 49 34 25.7 32 21 1.83 32 8 1.48 40 17
400 11.9 55 41 29.5 37 43 1.74 36 4 1.29 31 6
402 9.8 72 24 28.4 30 39 1.70 41 3 1.25 34 2
403 12.5 77 44 27.1 37 33 1.94 21 16 1.47 27 15
404 9.3 89 17 27.7 34 36 2.02 31 22 1.42 25 13
406 9.6 69 21 25.2 42 19 1.93 36 15 1.57 35 26
408 8.3 84 11 20.2 38 2 2.30 30 38 1.98 26 47
409 11.8 61 40 23.2 38 8 2.17 35 31 1.69 24 38
Mean 10.5 12 5 25.9 26 3 1.95 10 2 1.52 14 4

SS
No.1

 Lat. Lmbs.2 Top Branch Ang.3 Tree Shape Tree Density5
Mean
No.		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
O		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
Rtng5 		S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4 Mean
Rtng6		 S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4
Canaan Valley, Cortland Road, WV
416 8.5 82 13 26.4 22 28 1.67 34 1 1.50 25 18
417 12.2 86 42 27.1 31 33 1.81 36 6 1.29 31 7
418 11.2 73 37 27.8 37 37 1.94 26 17 1.53 31 23
419 8.7 80 15 35.0 22 49 1.68 36 2 1.26 5 4
424 10.8 91 36 23.9 44 13 1.85 31 11 1.38 0 10
425 10.4 63 30 31.2 31 47 1.79 36 5 1.25 21 1
426 8.4 99 12 27.0 32 31 1.91 24 14 1.50 27 19
428 12.2 84 43 23.3 48 9 2.09 30 26 1.52 36 22
Mean 10.3 18 4 27.4 35 4 1.84 13 1 1.41 9 2

SS
No.1

 Lat. Lmbs.2 Top Branch Ang.3 Tree Shape Tree Density5
Mean
No.		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
O		 S.D.
%
Mean		 Rk4 Mean
Rtng5 		S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4 Mean
Rtng6		 S.D.
%
Mean 		Rk4
Roan Mountain, NC
24 7.0 37 2 41.1 17 50 2.39 18 47 1.28 34 5
410 7.0 98 3 31.0 24 46 2.47 18 49 1.35 24 9
Mean 7.0 24 1 36.5 24 6 2.43 2 6 1.32 5 1
Variable
Mean 10.0

-

-

28.4

-

-

2.09

-

-

1.58

-

-

Mean Comparisons Between Locations
7pF 0.003 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001
8LSD0.05 2.42 3.65 0.23 0.21
Mean Comparisons Among Seed Sources Within Location
7pF <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001
8LSD0.05 4.08 4.98 0.33 0.26

1OARDC Seed-Source Accession/Identification Number.
2Number of lateral limbs on terminal shoot.
3Top Branch Angle: average angle between terminal shoot on trees and ascending branches in uppermost whorl of limbs.
4Ranking in array of means (from lowest to highest) for indivdual seed sources for trait indicated.
5Tree Shape Ratings: 1 = Irregular; 2 = Moderately Irregular; 3 = Conical.
6Tree Density Ratings: 1 = Light; 2 = Moderate; 3 = Dense.
7pF: probability of statistical significance for analysis of variance F test.
8LSD: Least Significant Difference at 5% probability level for comparing differences between location and seed-source means.


Figure 10. Lateral limbs between major whorls on trees of SS 361 (Blister Run, left) and SS 24 (North Carolina, right). Figure 10. Lateral limbs between major whorls on trees of SS 361 (Blister Run, left) and SS 24 (North Carolina, right).

Figure 10. Lateral limbs between major whorls on trees of SS 361 (Blister Run, left) and SS 24 (North Carolina, right).


Differences Between Seed Sources
For trees of the West Virginia families, numbers of lateral limbs were greatest (13.9) on trees of SS-361 from Blister Run and lowest (6.5) on trees of SS-387 from Stone Coal Run. For the different areas, Blister Run and both Canaan Valley collections had four trees among the one-third having the most lateral limbs, while Stone Coal Run had three and Blister Swamp two. Of families having the smallest number of limbs, three were from Blister Run, four from Blister Swamp, four from Stone Coal Run, two from Canaan Valley-State Park, three from Canaan Valley-Cortland Road, and both North Carolina sources (Tables 3, 4, 5).

Differences Within Seed Sources
Of all the traits measured in this study, numbers of lateral limbs showed the largest variation in measurements between trees of thesame seed source. Standard deviations ranged from 36 to 99 percent of half-sib family means; for trees with the highest (SS-361) and lowest (SS-387) averages, actual numbers ranged from 10 to 33 and 5 to 24, respectively (Table 5). Similar tree-to-tree variation in numbers of lateral limbs has been noted in other studies with Canaan Valley and Roan Mountain, North Carolina, origins of balsam fir [Brown 1983, Brown 1998, Brown and Heiligmann (unpublished data)].

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