ISHS Acta Horticulturae 683: V International Symposium on New Floricultural Crops
INFLUENCE OF CORM SIZE ON THE ORNAMENTAL USE OF WILD SPECIES OF GENUS GLADIOLUS |
| Authors: | J. Lopez, A. González, S. Bañón, J.J. Martinez, L. Balenzategui, J.A. Fernández |
| Keywords: | Gladiolus italicus, G. illyricus, open air and greenhouse cultivation, cut flower, gardening |
| Abstract:
Gladiolus italicus and G. illyricus are two wild species that grow in SE Spain, whose botanical characteristics, it was thought, may allow them to be used as ornamental plants. If this is so, two objectives could be achieved: first, an increase and diversification in the offer of ornamental plants of genus Gladiolus, which is mainly based on large flowered hybrids, and, secondly, the recovery and maintenance of the regional germplasm by means of massive propagation methods. This is very important in the case of G. italicus, a species regarded as “rare”, since it could avoid the potential risk of its extinction. In order to adapt the above mentioned species to the ornamental industry, we cultivated them both in the open air and in an unheated greenhouse in an attempt to increase yield and flower quality, and also to improve marketing timing. The object of this work was to study the influence of the corm size of both species to determine their possible use as ornamental plants. The results show that G. italicus can be used as a cut flower, if large (8/9) and medium (6/7) corm sizes are used, while G. illyricus is suitable for use as a rockery plant, as a potted plant or as packaged cut flower in the ornamental industry if a 5/6 corm size is used. | |
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