USDA RELEASES TWO NEW POINSETTIA SEEDLINGS
Subject:
Pennsylvania Flower Growers #218
Abstract:
The Crops Research Division of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, announces the release of two new red cultivars of poinsettia, RED BARON and RUDOLPH. These two cultivars are seedlings selected at the Plant Industry Station, Beltsville, Maryland, by staff of the Ornamentals Investigation unit. They are from the eight and ninth generations of crosses between unnamed seedlings of the commercial cultivars White Ecke and Ruth Ecke and of native plants imported from Central America. Both cultivars are diploids, good keepers, and have very tight centers. Both are very responsive to growth retardants and photoperiod. They have produced compact heads with excellent color in spring and summer flowering trials under controlled daylength. A brief description of distinctive features of each new cultivar follows: RED BARON, tested as 64-447-1, has large bracts of a very clear, bright red. At Beltsville it blooms early, at about the same time as Barbara Ecke Supreme or Indianapolis Red. RED BARON is medium tall, pinches will, and has strong stiff stems. It produces a big head, cutting production is good, and cuttings root easily.
Keywords: diploids growth retardants Photoperiod. RUDOLPH RED BARON
Libraries: Floriculture