Sources of Variation in Olive Flower and Fruit Populations

Abstract

Olive (Olea europaea L.) field experiments involving natural flower and fruit populations are fraught with variability, resulting in large coefficients of variation. We provide evidence that coefficients of variation can be reduced successfully by judiciously selecting four experimental twigs per tree and using only those twigs with an internodal growth ≥2 cm, two inflorescences per node, and that are selected from trees with near-maximum bloom density. Although counting flowers at full bloom may establish the population uniformity, only a single node; e.g., node 5, is needed for analysis. Increasing the number of trees will reduce variance more than increasing the number of twigs or nodes.