ISHS Acta Horticulturae 205: Symposium on the Development of New Floricultural Crops, XXII IHC
CONVALLARIA MAJALIS (LILY OF THE VALLEY) IMPROVED AS ORNAMENTAL PLANT AFTER 35 YEARS OF BREEDING WORK |
| Authors: | R. Reimann-Philipp, G. Reimann-Philipp |
| Abstract:
In 1951 when first crosses were made the mean number of flowers at a stalk was 10.5 in the normal commercial cultivar with relatively big flowers and varied from 6.9 up to 12.1 in the entries of wild material with very small flowers collected at different German localities where Convallaria majalis is indigenous. After 3 generations each of about 10 years mean values of up to 18 flowers per stalk in combination with a good single flower size and shape could be achieved in the best selections. However, the best gains in number of flowers per stalk could not yet be combined with the very important character of optimal yield of flower-buds i.e. the proportion harvested from the total of leaf-buds planted two years ago. This ratio could be improved from 65 to 95 % by selection, but so far only in those new introductions which produce about 13 flowers per stalk on an average, exceeding the old cultivar in this combination of main character values by far. | |
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