Colorimetric Analysis, Genetic Control, and Effects on Wood Properties of Green Vein in Wild Cherry

Green vein is one of the most severe defects that affect wild cherry (Prunus avium L.). It consists of green streaks that alter the typical color and uniformity of the cherry wood, causing considerable value losses. A colorimetric analysis was performed on wild cherry clones using the CIE L*a*b* system, and the influences of environmental and genetic factors on green vein as well as the effects of the presence of green vein on the physical properties of the wood were investigated. Discriminant analysis shows that the color parameter that best discriminated green vein were low values of L* and a*. The cloning effect was the most important, but the environment also played an important role in the development of green vein. Finally, the presence of green vein was found to mainly affect the longitudinal shrinkage of wood and, to a lesser extent, wood density. These same features are typical of tension wood, to which green vein was strictly linked, as confirmed by some preliminary anatomical observations.