Morphological and biological characteristics of selected clones of the purple willow (Salix purpurea L.) ‘Gracilis’ and evaluation of their productivity in short rotation plantations

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study the  morphological and biological characteristics of the selected clones of Salix purpurea ‘Gracilis’ cultivar in short rotation plantations and to evaluate their productivity. By taking these aspects into account, it was attempted to study and evaluate seven selected clones of Salix purpurea ‘Gracilis’ as well as to summarize the research of their morphological and biological characteristics and their productivity over nine years of growing in short rotation plantations. After conducting a comparative study of sprout leaves of the selected clones it was determined that the leaves of different clones differ in shape, size and leafstalk length. Some characteristics of biological productivity such as bush height, the number of sprouts grown per bush, their length and diameter, slenderness ratio, and their number per hectare were studied as well.