Pomological studies of Bulgarian cultivars and forms of cornelian cherry [Corn us mas I.)

摘要

The natural diversity of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) forms in Bulgaria is extremely large and is an inexhaustible genetic source for the selection of new large-fruited cultivars. Ill Bulgaria there is no official breeding program for the improvement of the cornelian cherry assortment, thus all registered Bulgarian cultivars and large-fruited forms have been selected from local resources by common folk or enthusiasts, i.e., 'Kazanlashki krushoviden', 'Pancharevski tsilindrichen', 'Shumenski prodalgovat', 'Pancharevski yaytseviden' and 'Zhalt Hadzhiyski'. There is also a wide range of large-fruited local forms that are grown as individual trees in private gardens and orchards. The present study includes four Bulgarian cultivars and five local large-fruited forms discovered as a result of conducted scientific expeditions. The aim is to evaluate the biometric parameters of the fruits of the newly selected forms and give recommendations for breeding, official registration as new original cultivarsand introduction into new orchards. The results showed that the earliest and most synchronized fruit ripening is of 'Zhalt Hadzhiyski' (July 15-20), while the fruit of the f. 'Yaltenski' have the latest ripening (September 3-12). The largest fruits are of the f. 'Vratsa - Kastel' - 9.46 g. There is no available data in our literature for larger cornelian cherry fruits. Very big are also the fruits of the f. "Yaltenski' - 8.79 g, and 'Shumenski prodalgovat' - 8.78 g. The smallest are the fruits of'ZhaltHadzhiyski' - 3.64 g. The fruits of the newly discovered yellow-fruited form 'Tsarigradski zhalt' are 1.8 g larger than those of the other yellow-fruited cultivar 'Zhalt Hadzhiyski'. Four of the five studied large-fruited forms of cornelian cherry -'Vratsa - Kastel', 'Yaltenski', 'Atkov dryan' and 'Tsarigradski zhalt' are recommended for breeding and official registration as new original Bulgarian cultivars.