Altitudinal Variation in Seed Characteristics of Black Cherry in the Southern Appalachians

In eastern Tennessee, seed size of black cherry increased with source altitude. Seed from high altitudes had a longer chilling requirement and were less tolerant of high germination temperatures than were low-altitude seed. Effects of temperature upon germination of partially stratified seed suggest that, during chilling, seed develop the capability of germinating at increasingly higher temperatures. A short period of warm stratification followed by cold stratification did not generally enhance dormancy release relative to continuous cold stratification, but broad tree-to-tree variation in response to the two stratification procedures was noted. Early growth of high-altitude plants in a low-elevation nusery was greater than that of low-altitude material. Forest Sci. 18:169-175.