Occurrence of Abnormal Seedlings in Pinus wallichiana AB Jacks; their Significance in Tree Breeding

Characterlstic branchy hablt of cotyledons was observed in seedlings of Pinus wallichiana AB Jacks, a first ever record in tbe Himalayan pine and probably in conifers. Differences between these normal cotyledons wlth ultrastructure studies are highlighted. Also the abnormal seedlings, recovered during germination studies of the seeds obtained from open pollination, are reported under specific beads as 'lethats' and non-lethats'. The present paper reports tbe appearance of abnormal seedlings and discusses probable explanation for their appearance under various experiments. The need of c1assifying these abnormal seedlings is advocated so that uniform terminology can be adopted to ensure tbe morbid types recovend for understanding the reflection of genetic structure of the population.