Keywords: 
• forest tree breeding /
• Taxus wallichiana var. mairei /
• excellent families /
• plus trees /
• combination selection /
• relationship /
• landscape tree

Abstract: To speed up the genetic improvement progress of Taxus wallichiana var. mairei. Based on landscape tree cultivation objectives, 35 landscape plus trees of T. wallichiana var. mairei were selected from five provinces of southern China, and plus tree family progeny tests were constructed in Mingxi County in Fujian Province. Considering growth and ornamental characteristics, a multi-objective decision method was adopted to select the best families by RCB design. Results showed abundant variations within T. wallichiana var. mairei and differences among families in height, diameter at breast height, crown width, length of shoot in current year growth characteristics, stem straightness, stem fullness, branch density of lateral branches in the current year, maximum length of lateral branches, degree of thick foliage, and number of lateral branches in the current year for ornamental characteristics. Change range of family broad heritability for growth and ornamental traits of 4-year-old seedlings from different families was 0.587 6－0.901 6; whereas, individual heritability of 4-year-old seedlings was 0.282 1－0.922 1. A positive relationship between height, diameter at breast height, crown width, length of shoot in the current year to maximum length of lateral branches, stem straightness, foliage thickness, and the number of lateral branches in the current year was found. Seven excellent families were preliminarily selected from the tested families with an average genetic gain for growth and ornamental characteristics of 0.46%－9.32%. Also, 30 excellent individuals were preliminarily selected from six excellent families, and their average genetic gain for growth and ornamental characteristics was 5.75%－28.75%. These selected families and individuals could be used for seed orchards or vegetative propagation.［Ch, 6 tab. 11 ref.］