Abstract

In 1976, provenance variation studios were undertaken on Chir nine (Pinus soxbur- ghii) in Himachal Pradesh with an aim to determine the range of variability. Six prove nances were demarcated on the basis of river basins and the occurance of high mountains, A total of 207 trees in 23 locations was selected for studying variation with regard te height. diameter, crown length and needle longth. Volume of wood and specific gravity of wood. The results was showed that the height. dinmster. crown length and needle length were variable in the provenances and in locations except the diameter. The other charac- ters such as volume of wood and specific gravity were found to be variable in locations. This predicted that there is a great potential to adopt the breeding programmes in this species on the basis of variability among these characters.

Keywords: