VARIABILITY OF THE SWEET CHESTNUT (Castanea sativa Mill.) BASED ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THE LEAF IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF BOSANSKA KRAJINA
UDK 582.632.2:581.45(497.6 Bosanska krajina) An analysis of the morphological properties of the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) leaves has identified the presence of an intra-population and inter-population variability of the sweet chestnut. The material has been collected from 16 subpopulations in the region of Bosanska Krajina (Cazin, Bužim, and Velika Kladuša) and amounted to 4,380 leaves of equal dimensions. Their morphological features – blade length in mm (ŠPL), blade width in mm (DPL) and petiole length in mm (DPE) – have been measured. The shape of leaf base and depth of indentations of leaf edges have been established according to the descriptor for the sweet chestnut (UPOV 1989), while the ratios have been calculated based on the known values: leaf blade length/leaf blade width (ŠPL/DPL) and leaf blade width/total leaf length (ŠPL/UDL). The purpose of this research is to establish intra-population and inter-population variability of the natural sweet chestnut populations in the region of Bosanska Krajina on the basis of leaf morphology.