Abstract
Shoot geometry was investigated for five apple genotypes, ‘Ariane’, ‘Braeburn’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Gala’, and ‘Granny Smith’ in the INRA Experimental Field in Montpellier, France. Data were recorded on one-year-old shoot in May 2005. For shoot shape, two variables were investigated: slenderness (ratio of shoot length by mean diameter) andconicity (ratio of the diameter difference between the basal part and the tip of a shoot, and shoot length). In the slenderness comparison, ‘Ariane’ showed the lowest result and ‘Granny Smith’ performed the highest one. The lowest conicity was also observed in ‘Ariane’, indicating that ‘Ariane’ produced the thickest shoots with cylinder shape. Relationships between these geometric features, especially conicity, and sylleptic branching are discussed