EN
The objective of the study was to determine whether differences exist between the selected characteristics of Norway spruce cones and seeds depending on their location in the crown. The study was performed in two spruce tree stands growing under mountainous conditions (the Beskidy Mountains, southern Poland). In winter 2015, the cones were collected from 60 standing trees located in the two selected seed stands – Ujsoły and Rycerka. From each tree, the cones were collected from three crown zones: top, central and bottom differing in terms of light conditions. Two characteristics of the cones and six characteristics of the seeds were analysed. To determine quantitative and qualitative traits of seeds standard methods for seed testing were applied. Significant differences between the populations were determined for cone weight and fraction of full seeds, weight of 1000 seeds and germination capacity. The crown zones differed significantly in terms of fraction of cones in the parts of the crown and mass of one cone as well as weight of 1000 seeds, germination energy and germination capacity. Moreover, a significant intra−population variation was observed for a majority of the analysed characteristics (fraction of full seeds, weight of one cone, weight of 1000 seeds, germination energy, and germination capacity). However, no statistically significant interaction between population and crown zone was observed. A significantly lower contribution of cones in the bottom zone of the crown may affect the economic viability of the commercial harvest. On the other hand some of the important seeds traits (e.g. weight of 1000 seeds, germination energy and germination capacity) were significantly better in the bottom and central part of the crown than in the top zone. There are no justified circumstances (both qualitative and quantitative) to perform the cone harvest only from the top zone of the crown.