Summary
Seventy-two plants of Vaccinium angustifolium, 24 from Newfoundland, 24 from Nova Scotia and 24 from Ontario, were set out in equal numbers on the Nova Scotian mainland and eastern Ontario in order to monitor differences in vegetative and reproductive growth. After 5 years, plants set out in Nova Scotia, regardless of provenance, produced significantly more viable seeds than those in Ontario. Mortality was significantly higher in Ontario than in Nova Scotia. Newfoundland plants set out in Ontario fared poorly.
Methodology
During 1973, 1974 and 1975, 24 berries were collected from four lowbush blueberry shrubs at each of the following sites: (1) headlands near Bonavista, Nfld.; (2) massive outcrop at Cape Spear, Avalon Peninsula, Nfld.; (3) barrens near Boylston, Guysborough Co., N.S.; (4) old fields surrounding Westbranch, Pictou Co., N.S.; (5) along the right-of-way, Dominion Atlantic Railway, Wolfville, Kings Co., N.S.; (6) mire, Red Head, Port Maitland, Yarmouth Co., N.S.; (7) Rock Dunder, 3 km SW of Morton, Leeds Co., Ont.; (8) outcroppings surrounding Lake Opinicon, Chaffey's Locks, Leeds Co., Ont.; (9) granite-gneiss outcrops, 0.5 km N of Kaladar, Lennox and Addington Co., Ont. Seeds were washed from each berry, air-dried, and stored in sealed jars at 2 C until October 1976 when they were sown on a 1/1 sand-peat mixture and placed in the misting chamber of the Acadia University Greenhouse. As soon as the cotyledons emerged, pots were transferred from the chamber to the greenhouse bench and watered when necessary. After 3 months, 12 vigorous seedlings were picked from each lot of germinating seeds, and individually set out in 7.5-cm clay pots, i.e., 12 seedlings x four seed parents x nine sites = 432 plants were set out.