Propagation of the Azorean native morella faya (aiton) wilbur

The aim of this work was to produce Morella faya (Aiton) Wilbur plants for Azorean wildlife habitat and conservation landscaping. With that purpose we performed several germination and cutting trials, and measured the plantlets development on different substrates. In the germination trials we tested the effect of chemical scarification of seeds, stratification and the effect of temperature and photoperiod on their germination characteristics. In the cuttings trials, we used semi-hardwood cuttings harvested in October and planted in substrate and softwood cuttings harvested in April and placed in aeroponic conditions, to test the effect of (0 and 0.4%) indole butyric acid on rooting. Mortality of cuttings was 100%. After 34 weeks, fruits’ scarification under a suitable light and temperature regime enhanced the percentage of germination. The best regimes of temperature and light were: 15ºC/8h or environmental conditions (starting in October), resulting respectively in 23% and 22,5% germination, 134 and 126 days of mean time of germination, and 82 and 72 days for the first radicle emergence. Survival of the produced plants was superior (95%) when using the soil from the plant’s habitat but plant development was superior on the mixture: BVB (NPK): perlite (2:1).