PLANNED INTERNATIONAL PROVENANCE TRIALS: LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA L.

(Information provided by the Unit of Tropical Silviculture, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford, U.K.)

In cooperation with the Forest Departments of Nicaragua and Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford, U.K. has made seed collections of Liquidambar styraciflua L. Some thirteen provenances, representing the tropical part of the natural range of the species in Central America and Mexico, were collected. It is proposed to distribute this seed for international provenance trials as part of C.F.I.'s continuing contribution to the FAO Global Programme for the Improved Use of Forest Genetic Resources.

Seed has been available for distribution since May 1984. This will be free of charge to researchers who wish to participate in the international programme.

It is envisaged that there will be three levels of provenance trial:

Combined progeny/provenance trials including 10 families from all 13 tropical provenances. It is hoped to include also seed from two or three U.S. sources for comparison.
Range wide provenance trials using bulk seedlots of all provenances.
Pilot tests of 3–5 selected provenances covering the extremes of the range.

Requests for seed, together with all necessary import permits, special instructions about compulsory pesticide treatment etc. should be sent to the Unit of Tropical Silviculture, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB (Attention: Hughes/McCarter).

The number of proposed trial sites and the number of provenances required should be clearly stated. Brief site details of latitude, longitude, altitude, soil profile, rainfall and temperature regimes are also useful for selecting an appropriate range of provenances.

Details of a standardized experimental design will be included with seed dispatches, and if possible, use of this will greatly facilitate the process of provenance evaluation.

A full account of the exploration, seed collection and provenance details of Liquidambar styraciflua in Central America and Mexico was published in 1984 in Vol. 62(3) of the Commonwealth Forestry Review (P.S. McCarter and C.E. Hughes).