Studies on Morphological and Fruit Characters of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) Varieties

摘要

Most of the varieties are tall in height (6 m). Sanaur Selections, ZG Selections, Umran and Illaichi are having spreading habit of branching. The varieties like Chhuhara, Chinese, Kaithli and Thornless are having semi-erect to erect branching habit. The leaf size in terms of length and breadth was noted maximum in Illaichi and minimum in Rashmi and Bahadurgarhi. Leaf shape in most of the varieties is oval, obovate, cordate and oblong. Leaf apex in ber varieties was classified into sub-acute to acute and obtuse. The commonly found fruit shape is oval and round. Most of the ber varieties on full maturity possess golden yellow, light yellow and greenish yellow colour. Deep golden yellow colour of ber fruits seems to be most appealing to the consumer and fetch higher price in the market. The highest fruit yield (200 kg/tree) was recorded in Umran. The harvesting period of ber varieties extended over a period of about two months starting from 15 February and continues upto middle of April. Sanaur Selections, Chinese and Katha Phul were tolerant and Umran was highly susceptible to powdery mildew disease.