1. Authors names: Lucian Cioacă
University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest
Faculty of Horticulture
International Student Symposium “Hortus Academicus”
March 29, 2019, Bucharest, Romania
The characterization of some local almond (Amygdalus communis) selections from Dobrogea
Authors names: Lucian Cioacă
Coordinator Professor: Florin Stanică
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

2. Introduction
The almond (Amygdalus communis L.) is a decidous tree, growing 6–12 m in height. It forms a wide root system with a strong taproot that is reaching deep levels in the soil. The tree top form for the spontaneous almond trees is pyramidal or overthrown cone. The twigs are grey. The leaves are 8–13 cm long, with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, 3–5 cm diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in early spring. Almond grows best in climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The optimal temperature for their growth is between 15 and 30 °C. The almond is a protandrous species. (Cociu, 2007) Almonds were collected in the south-west Asia, in the region historically described as the Fertile Crescent in the wild 1o,ooo years ago, and they were among the first plants to be domesticated anywhere on earth, around the third millennium BC. The earliest archaeological evidence suggests that this occurred in Jordan. (Albala, 2009)
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

3. Almonds are a rich source of fiber, highly digestible protein, unsaturated fat, and vitamin E (USDA, 2007). Almond kernels are an important source of calcium, magnesium and manganese. Copper, iron, potassium, phosphorus and zinc are also accumulated in significant amounts in almond kernels during fruit growth and ripening. (Preedy, 2011)
In Romania it is believed that the almond has been brought by the first Greek colonists in the Dobrogea region of today.
Also in the spontaneous flora of the Dobrogea region there is a correspondent from the same taxonomical genre, the dwarf Russian almond (Amygdalus nana L.) (Neţoiu, 2008)

4. The Aim of the study
The aim of our study is to observe and select the valuable Almond genotypes in order to homologate and introduce in production new varieties

5. Materials and Methods
1st place of study is in the commune Greci, Tulcea County. In Greci we took in study almond genotypes naturally formed that are grown in peoples gardens or in the proximity of the commune.
We observed 163 naturally formed almond genotypes. From the 163 almonds observed, two of them presented high interest for us.
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

6. Materials and Methods
2nd place of study is in the proximity of the commune Crucea, at Crucea farm Constanta County.
In Crucea farm, near the Crucea commune, they cultivate Almond fruit trees on ha, ecologically certified. The almond orchard is on top of two hills that are surrounded by the this crop. Here we study the natural formed hybrids from the almond fruit trees that are growing in the proximity. We observed 140 naturally formed hybrids.
From the 140 alomonds took into study, 11 of them presented high interest for us.
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

7. We took in study almond trees that blossom, because we are interested in the ones that bloom late; we observed and measured the following:
phenological growth stage of the Inflorescence emergence
phenological growth stage of the Flowering
the presence of different diseases
altitude
exposition
the tree’s height
the trunk height
the crown height
the diameter at 50cm above the ground
the surface of the cross section
the diameter of the crown
the volume of the crown
tipe of the crown
type of the angles of the branch
if the tendency is baritony or acritony

8. Inflorescence emergence
Phenological growth stages and BBCH-identification keys of stone fruits are:
Inflorescence emergence
53 - Bud burst: scales separated, light green bud sections visible
54 - Inflorescence enclosed by light green scales, if such scales
are formed (not all cultivars)
55 - Single flower buds visible (still closed) borne on short stalks,
green scales slightly open
56 - Flower pedicel elongating; sepals closed; single flowers separating
57 - Sepals open: petal tips visible; single flowers with white or pink petals (still closed)
59 - Most flowers with petals forming a hollow ball
Flowering
60 First flowers open
61 Beginning of flowering: about 10% of flowers open
62 About 20% of flowers open
63 About 30% of flowers open
64 About 40% of flowers open
65 Full flowering: at least 50% of flowers open, first petals falling
67 Flowers fading: majority of petals fallen
69 End of flowering: all petals fallen (Meier, 2001)

9. Polystigma fulvum Pers. ex DC.
Taphrina deformans (Berk.) Tul
Stigmina carpophila (Lév.) M.B. Ellis
Monilinia laxa (Aderh. & Ruhland)

11. Results and discussions
1st place of study: Greci, Tulcea
Phenological data from the almond trees from Greci, TL
 Year Nr 53 54 55 56 57 59 60 61 63 65 69
2018 4
08-Mar
15-Mar
31-Mar
07-Apr
14-Apr 33
2019
24-Feb
2-Mar |
09-Mar
20-Mar
02-Mar
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

12. Results and discussions
1st place of study: Greci, Tulcea
Morphological data for the fruit trees observed in Greci, TL Nr
Age
H tree (m)
H trunk (m)
H crown (m)
D at h50 (cm)
CSS (cm2)
D canopy (m)
Crown Volume
(m3)
Crown type
Angle of branches
B/A 4
2.15
0.83
1.32 2
3.14
0.95
0.93
glob
Big
Acrotony 33 6
3.22
0.85
2.37 5
19.62
1.8
6.02
big
Average
2.685
0.84
1.845
3.5
11.38
1.375
3.475
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

13. Results and discussions
1st place of study: Greci, TL
Data about the diseases presence Nr
Monilinia
Stigmina
Taphrina
Polystigma 4 da nu  - 33
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

14. Phenological data from the almond trees from Greci, TL
2nd place of study: Crucea, Constanța
Phenological data from the almond trees from Greci, TL
 Year Nr 53 54 55 56 57 59 61 64 65 67 69
2018 3
27-Mar
03-Apr
13-Apr
20-Apr 8 18 24 40 46 66 68
129
2019
23-Feb
01-Mar
8-Mar | 16 mar
21-Mar
08-Mar
16-Mar
1-Mar | 8-Mar
nu are, s-a uscat tulpina
8-Mar | 16-Mar
23-Feb |1-Mar

15. Morphological data for the fruit trees observed in Crucea, CT
2nd place of study: Crucea, Constanța
Morphological data for the fruit trees observed in Crucea, CT Nr
Age
H tree (m)
H trunk (m)
H crown (m)
D at h50 (cm)
CSS (cm2)
D canopy (m)
Crown Volume
(m3)
Crown type
Angle of branches
B/A 3 12
3.7
0.65
3.05 17
226.86
4.15
12.57
glob
big
acrotonie 8 7 2
0.1
2.9 4
12.56
1.3
3.84 18 6
1.32
0.2
1.12
3.14
0.8
0.56 24 9
1.9
0.25
1.65 5
19.62
2.18 40
2.75
0.6
2.15
28.26
2.25
8.54 46
2.5
9.32 56
0.3
2.2
7.06
4.7 57
2.35
0.15
0.9
1.39 66
2.85
0.4
2.45
2.1
8.48 68
0.45
9.3
129
1.7
1.6
0.53
Average
7.64
2.41
0.35
5.45
35.68
1.8
5.58

16. 2nd place of study: Crucea, Constanța

17. 2nd place of study: Crucea, Constanța

18. Data about the diseases presence
2nd place of study: Crucea, Constanța
Data about the diseases presence
 Nr
Monilinia
Stigmina
Taphrina
Polystigma 3
Yes No 8 18 ? 24 40 46 56 57 66 da nu 68
129

19. Greci, TL. S-V exposure, between 38 – 63 MASL, measured with Altimeter application
Crucea, CT. E exposure, between 131 – 177 MASL, measured with Altimeter application

20. Conclusions and recommendations
We took in study more almond genotypes in Crucea than in Greci because, being the offspring of parents that most probably are breeds, we found more interesting characteristics.
In Greci the flowering begun 11 days earlier in 2019 than in 2018.
in Crucea the flowering begun 23 days earlier in 2019 than in 2018.
In 2018 the phenological stages were around 20 days ahead in Greci than in Crucea.
In 2019 the phenological stages were 7-10 days ahead in Greci than in Crucea.
We believe that this difference is caused by the factors:
In Crucea the genotypes we took in study are the offspring of breeds known for the late flowering
We suppose the temperature is lower in Crucea than in Greci; the altitude of the almonds took in study in Greci is lower with 100 MASL, than in Crucea, also Greci is protected by the Macinului Mountains on the north side; the genotypes we took in study in Crucea are on the top of too hills.
International Student Symposium "Hortus Academicus“ March 29, Bucharest, Romania

21. Bibliography
Albala K., 2009, Almonds Along the Silk Road: The Exchange and Adaptation of Ideas from West to East. Petits Propos Culinaires, 88, 19–34.
Meier U., 2001, Growth stages of mono- and dicotyledonous plants.
Cociu V., 2007, Nucul, alunul, migdalul, M.A.S.T., Bucuresti
Socias R. et all, 2017, Almonds Botany, Production and Uses, CABI
Preedy V.R. et all, 2011, Nuts & seeds in health and disease prevention, Academic Press
Neţoiu C et all, 2008, Dendrologie, Eurobit, Timisoara

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