Floral Morphometric Diversity of Tunisian Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Cultivars

Thirteen floral morphological characteristics (floral button length and width, corolla width, stigma position and width, petal number, shape, length and width, stamen number, pistil number, length and width) were studied for twelve Tunisian apricot cultivars. Floral buttons (stage D) and flowers at anthesis were used for this study. Average length and width of floral button were 12.53 mm and 8.12 mm, respectively. The average number of petals (05) and average number of pistils (01) were similar for all studied cultivars. A large variability (CV> 20%) was noted particularly for corolla width, stigma width, petal shape and pistil length. These parameters were considered as discriminating characters between the studied cultivars.