Tree architecture is an important factor in increasing performance and better garden management of pistachios. In a pistachio breeding programme, the genotypes obtained from five open pollinated populations were evaluated in terms of growth characteristics. Among the evaluated genotypes, ‘Apatiye’ was identified. This genotype has shoots with crouch angle more than 90° and a height of 110 cm. In previous year's shoots, the terminal buds abort and fall in early spring, stimulating more lateral buds to grow (6–7) than other genotypes (3–4). The growth characteristics of ‘Apatiye’ create a valuable potential resource for breeding pistachio cultivars with low alternate bearing, suitable for manual harvesting and pruning management. In addition, ‘Apatiye’ can be used as a suitable genetic marker in the study of heritability of growth habit in pistachio trees for future studies.
