Comparative wood anatomy of Pinus sylvestris and its var. compacta in the West Black Sea Region of Turkey
Abstract
Pinus sylvestris L. subsp. hamata (Steven) Fomin var. compacta Tosun is
quite different from the common form of R sylvestris in its external
morphology. The size of the needles, cones and seeds of the former are
significantly smaller than those of the latter. Besides, this variety
branches out beginning from the ground level, and has very dense
branches and needles. The present study describes the anatomical
properties of the wood of P. sylvestris var. compacta and compares them
with typical P. sylvestris. The woods of these taxa have the same
qualitative anatomical features, but most of the quantitative anatomical
characteristics show significant differences: variety compacta has lower
values than common P. sylvestris in tracheid length and diameter, ray
height and bordered pit diameter.