*4.2. Experimental Conditions and Plant Material*

Field plot experiments were carried out during the 2013–2014 growing season at the Centre for Agro-Environmental Research "Enrico Avanzi" of the University of Pisa located in San Piero a Grado (Pisa, central Italy, 43◦400 N; 10◦190 E, 1 m above sea level) and at the CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics) experimental farm in Budrio (Bologna, northern Italy, 44◦320 N; 11◦290 E, 28 m above sea level), by adopting a randomized block design with four replicates (plots size of 6.5 m × 3.0 m) for each species and/or cultivars. Both sites were characterized by flat land with alluvial deep loam soils. In Pisa, the soil was a typic Xerofluvent, representative of the lower Arno river plain, characterized by a low level of organic matter (1.7%), and a medium content of available phosphorous (12.0 mg/kg) and total nitrogen (1.1 g/kg), with a moderately alkaline reaction (pH 8.2) and slightly calcareous (total CaCO<sup>3</sup> 3.1%). In Bologna, the soil was moderately alkaline (pH 8.1), characterized by good contents of organic matter (2.1%) and total nitrogen (1.4 g/kg), very good level of available P (33.3 mg/kg), and moderately calcareous (total CaCO<sup>3</sup> 10.3%). In both environments, the two flaxseed varieties used in the experiment were Sideral and Buenos Aires. Sideral is a variety registered in the EC (European Commission) common catalogue of varieties and commercially available (Semfor s.r.l., Verona, Italy), characterized by high resistance to cold and lodging and early ripening with blue-violet flowers and brown colored seeds [5]. Buenos Aires belongs to the germplasm collection of CREA-CI (Bologna, Italy), and it is characterized by a low cold resistance and an early ripening, with white flowers and yellow-colored seeds. Regarding camelina, the cultivar Italia, belonging to CREA-CI germplasm collection, was used [48]. The previous crop in both locations was durum wheat (*Triticum turgidum* L. subsp. *durum* (Desf.) Husn.), assuming a rotation with cereals. All flaxseed crops were sown during the fall, from mid- to the end of October, after the cereal crop harvest. Camelina was analyzed as a separate experiment comparing a winter crop in Bologna (sown in mid-October 2013) with a spring crop in Pisa (sown in mid-March 2014). Both crops have been harvested from the beginning to the end of June, at full seed maturity.
