Leaf and stem anatomical differences between sweet cherry rootstocks of varying vigour

S.T. Chong and P.K. Andrews

Abstract

There were some anatomical differences in leaves and stems of Mazzard, Gi 148/1 and Gi 148/8 rootstocks. Vigorous Gi 148/1 rootstock had significant thicker leaves (138.9 μm) than dwarfing Gi 148/8 (132.4 μm) rootstock. Mazzard, a vigorous sweet cherry rootstock, had significantly larger upper epidermal cells than the two Giessen rootstocks. The stem xylem vessel size of Gi 148/1 (616.4 μm2 ), Mazzard (391.7 μm2 ) and Gi 148/8 (288.2 μm2 ) rootstocks were all significantly different. Gi 148/1 consistently had the largest xylem vessel size. Bark:wood ratios of stems of Mazzard (0.46) and Gi 148/8 (0.43) were significantly higher than Gi 148/1 (0.34).

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