Accurate and rapic technique for leaf area measurement in medlar (Mespilus germanica L.)

Accurate measurements of leaf area are important for agronomic and physiological studies. Deter- mining the individual leaf area (A) of medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) involves measurements of leaf parameters, such as length (L) and width (W), or some combinations of these parameters. A two-year investigation was car- ried out in 2005 (on seven genotypes) and in 2006 (on one cultivar) underopen-field conditions to test whether a model could be developed to estimate leaf area across genotypes. Regression analyses of A versus Land Wrevea- led several models could be used for estimating the area of individual medlar leaves. A linear model having LW as the independent variable (A = 1.81 + 0.68 LW) provided the most accurate estimate (R2 = 0.981, MSE = 7) of medlar leaf area. Validation of the model having LWof leaves from another genotype measured in the 2006 expe- riment showed that the correlation between calculated and measured areas was very high. Using the selected model, agronomists and physiologists can accurately and reliably estimate the leaf area of medlarwithout the use of expensive instruments