Abstract

CASTELLANOS-CASTRO, Carolina  and  BONFIL, Consuelo. Propagation of three Bursera species from cuttings. Bot. sci [online]. 2013, vol.91, n.2, pp.217-224. ISSN 2007-4476.

Vegetative propagation of three species of Bursera (B. glabrifolia, B. copallifera and B. linanoe) was studied. Cuttings were collected during the dry season, when trees were leafless and dormant. In a first trial, the effects of species, indol-butyric acid concentration (control, 4,000, and 9,000 ppm), and relative age of stockplants (young vs. mature trees) on rooting success were evaluated. Percentage of rooted cuttings and number of roots per cutting differed significantly among species, indol-butyric acid, and age of the stockplants. The three species studied showed increased rooting when indol-butyric acid was applied compared to the control, but sensitivity to applied indol-butyric acid varied relative to the type of cutting. Cuttings from young stockplants attained higher rooting percentages but were less responsive to indol-butyric acid application. In a second trial performed later in the dry season, one species (B. linanoe) showed a significant increase in rooting success. Overall, rooting percentages higher than 70% were attained when the sources of cuttings were young stockplants and when indol-butyric acid was applied. These results show that propagation of these species from cuttings is feasible. Rooted cuttings may be used for the restoration of degraded secondary tropical dry forests, where they are usually absent, for commercial plantations, or in agroforestry.

Keywords : Burseraceae; indolbutyric acid; restoration; rooting; tropical dry forest.

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