LEAF MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS VARIABILITY OF DIFFERENT BEECH PROVENANCES IN JUVENILE DEVELOPMENT STAGE

The taxonomic status of beech from the Balkan Peninsula is not yet clearly defined. There is no agreement among different authors about the morphological characteristics discriminating between the Balkan and European and/or Eastern beech. For most characteristics, the mean values are different but the ranges of variation overlap considerably. Provenance trial of beech established in Serbia, at the locality Debeli Lug, has provided an opportunity for research of inter-provenance variability at the level of leaf morphometric characteristics in juvenile development stage. Research included 10 provenances originating from the Western Balkans (Serbian provenance 36 and 38; Croatian provenance 24 and 25; Bosnian provenance 30 and 32) and from Central Europe (German provenance 47 and 49; Austrian provenance 56 and Hungarian provenance 42), where following morphometric characteristics were analyzed: leaf length (Ll), leaf width (Lw), petiole lenght (Pl), leaf base width on 1 cm (Blw), number of veins-left (Vl), number of veins - right (Vr), distance between 3(rd) and 4(th) vein - left (Dv 3-4). The results of this research show existence of clear differentiation among provenances from the Western Balkan and from Central Europe, from the point of leaf dimensions, number of veins and leaf base width.