Canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) of morphometric data of buds, leaves, and fruit, as well as isozyme analysis (esterase, peroxydase, and acid phosphatase) of leaf samples, were used to identify eight male pistachio selections and 10 female pistachio cultivars. According to the CDA, 77% and 93% of the total variance was summarized by the first three canonical discriminant functions for the female and male selections, respectively. Fruit characteristics, particularly fruit fresh and dry weights and fruit length, accounted for most of the discriminatory power for the female cultivars, while the dimensions of the leaves, principally leaf rachis length, were the most effective discriminating characters for the males. Isozyme analysis showed a higher degree of polymorphism in the male than the female genetic pool. Hence, using only three enzymes, it was possible to identify all of the male selections, but only 50% of the females. Peroxidase polymorphism clearly demonstrated the greater phylogenetic distance between ‘Kerman’and the local cultivars, as well as between ‘Cerasola’, a quite different cultivar with a reddish hull, and the others tested. The combination of CDA and isozyme analysis enhanced the possibility of uniquely identifying the female cultivars.

Received for publication 31 Oct. 1995. Accepted for publication 23 Sept. 1995. We are indebted to Giovanni Cacco and Tiziano Caruso of the Univ. of Reggio Calabria for their support and suggestions. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. Under postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertisement solely to indicate this fact.