Influence of Aspect on Phenology of Himalayan Wild Cherry viz.Prunus cerasoides D. Don

Abstract

The current study was carried out on Prunus cerasoides at two sites: Daro in District Sirmour and Nauni in District Solan of Himachal Pradesh (August 2022–May, 2023), aimed to understand the phenological behaviour of Himalayan wild cherry viz. Prunus cerasoides. The flower buds and leaves were observed during the period of their development and categorised into seven distinct stages based on their size, length and width, respectively. The leaves on the western site (Daro) were shorter in length and width, while the floral buds were longer than at the Southern site (Nauni).  All the vegetative and reproductive bud swell and bud burst occurred earlier at the Southern (Nauni) than the Western aspect (Daro). The peak anthesis was observed between 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm, and there was no anthesis between 6:00 pm to 6:00 am at both aspects. The reproductive bud swell duration, reproductive bud burst duration, flowering duration, vegetative bud swell and bud burst duration, leaf growth period, petiole length, leaf fall duration and fruit development period were all negatively correlated with the aspect (west to south), leaf length and leaf width stages. However, these vegetative and reproductive characters were positively correlated with floral bud length stages. The floral bud length stages were negatively correlated with aspect, leaf width and leaf length stages.