Selection of Early and Late Flowering Robinia pseudoacacia from Domesticated and Introduced Cultivars in Korea and Prediction of Flowering Period by Accumulated Temperature

The objectives of this study were to select early, late, and abundant flowering trees of black locust from domesticated and introduced cultivars, and prediction of flowering period by calculation of accumulated temperature in spring. Four cultivars (Debreceni-2, Pusztavacs, Jaszkiseri, and Rozsaszin AC) from Hungary and a cultivar from Beijing, China, were introduced, propagated by seed and planted in a seed orchard. For domesticated black locust, 63 cultivars from 10 locations throughout the country were selected and propagated by root cutting. Criteria for selection of domesticated cultivars were abundant flowering, long flowering period, or abundant nectar production with, if possible, straight stems. Accumulated temperature was calculated from data of a nearby weather station by accumulating daily maximum temperature minus 5 degree Celsius from January 1 up to the date reaching 880 degrees. Daily mean temperature was also used to calculate accumulated temperature up to the date reaching 450 degrees. The percentages of two-year and three-year-old flowering trees propagated by root cutting were higher than that of trees propagated by seeds, while four-year-old trees all flowered regardless of propagation methods. Among the domesticated cultivars, all the cultivars from Ganghwa showed abundant flowering with highest nectar production of 6.5 ul per flower, which was 100% more than other domesticated cultivars and 50% more than Debreceni-2 cultivar with highest nectar production among the introduced cultivars from Hungary. At the end of the eight years of observations, two trees of Debreceni-2 cultivars and a tree from Beijing, China were selected for early flowering trees which flowered 2 to 3 days earlier than average trees, while a tree of Debeceni-2 and three trees from Bejing were selected for late flowering trees which flowered 2 to 3 days later than average trees. It is possible to extend the flowering period of black locust by 4 to 6 days by planting early and late flowering cultivars together. Abundant flowering trees were unable to be selected due to severe damages by leaf gall midges which killed many trees and reduced the crown size of the remaining trees in the seed orchard, and which were first found in Korea in 2001 and now damaging most of the black locust forests in Korea. The prediction of flowering period by accumulated temperature indicated that black locust flowered to a peak when accumulated daily maximum temperature reached 880 degrees Celsius, and when daily mean temperature reached 450 degrees.