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Open-pollinated hybridisation seed orchards of European and Japanese larches produce mixed progenies combining a highly variable proportion of hybrids along with pure parental species. For several reasons, it is desirable to identify and to sort out hybrids from pure species at the seedling stage. Taxa identification of 1-2 yr-old seedlings was attempted using non-destructive assessment of several traits, including morphology, phenology, growth and architecture parameters. Two sets of progenies originating from 10 open-pollinated hybridisation seed orchards were used, relying in a first step on taxa identification of individual seedlings with diagnostic molecular markers. Based on 21 traits assessed, some clear trends in pure species and hybrid features were apparent but due to the large and overlapping ranges of taxa characteristics, no single parameter allowed unambiguous identification of taxa. Combination of traits through linear discriminant analysis made possible correct classification of 90.2% to 98.6% of individuals depending on the orchard although there were a few problematic orchards. Two traits appeared particularly pertinent for discriminating young plants taxa, namely 1st-yr leaf retention (marcescence) and the bark colour of 2nd-year shoot increments. Results were corroborated using progenies from several orchards and over two experimental periods.

Random Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPD) were used for estimating genetic distances between 12 European larches (Larix decidua) and 12 Japanese larches (L. kaempferi) that were the parents in a factorial mating design. One hundred and eleven fragments were used for establishing genetic distances based on Jaccard's coefficient between parents. Thirteen fragments differentiated the larch species. The genetic distance between individuals of the same species (DJ=0.39 in the Japanese larch and 0.45 in the European larch) was lower than the genetic distance between species (DJ=0.72). A UPGMA dendrogram based on genetic distances clearly clustered each larch species, confirming the speciation at a molecular level. Correlations between genetic distances of the parents and performances of the hybrid families were established for various quantitative traits. Significant values were found for growth characters and branch insertion angle, which suggested an effect of general heterozygosity level on hybrid traits. These correlations also evolved with tree age: the maximal correlation was noticed on 6-year-old trees for height. The lack of correlation between parental genetic distances and hybrid performances for the other quantitative traits suggested that these characters were controlled by fewer genes. The results of this study show that crosses between genetically distant parents produce hybrids with excellent growth performances; this represents a potential selection criterion of the genitors.