2nd International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds, Davis, Antarktika, 24 - 29 Ağustos 1997, ss.219-225
The genus Pistacia consists of 11 species. Among these species, only Pistacia vera has edible nuts and commercial importance. The others are used as rootstocks for P. vera. Three of them have been grown for many centuries in Turkey. In this experiment, we aimed to obtain fast growing, disease resistant rootstocks for P. vera by interspecific and intraspecific crosses. Crosses were done during the spring months of 1996, between P. terebinthus x P. terebinthus (4), P. terebinthus x P. atlantica (2), P. atlantica x P. atlantica (5), P. atlantica x P. terebinthus (1), P. khinjuk x P. khinjuk (1), P. khinjuk x P. atlantica (1), P. khinjuk x P. terebinthus (1). These crosses were made in two locations (in the Adana and Siirt provinces). Nuts were harvested in August, September and October, 1996. Various parameters of the hybrid nuts were measured, such as nut weight, nut size, germination percentage, germination rate. Seedling stem height and diameter were measured in May and June, 1997. The choice of pollinator did not affect the weights and sizes of the nuts. The highest germination percentages were found when P. khinjuk was used as the female whereas the lowest germination rate was found when P. terebinthus was used as the female. When P. atlantica was used as the pollinator and P. khinjuk was used as the female, stems were found to be thinner and shorter.