EVALUATION OF LEUCOSPERMUM HYBRIDS FOR WARM-TEMPERATURE TOLERANCE

A major objective of the protea research program at the University of Hawaii is to help the Hawaii floriculture industry expand with selected protea varieties that can be grown on low elevation lands formerly cultivated in sugar or pineapple, since high elevation lands are unavailable or too expensive for agricultural production.
In this investigation, pincushion (Leucospermum) species and hybrids were evaluated for growth and flowering characteristics at a near-sea level location on the Island of Oahu, and compared with the performance of plants of the same species and hybrid cultivars grown at a high elevation site (930m) at Kula, Maui.
Mean annual temperatures were approximately 6.4°C warmer at the Waimanalo, Oahu site than at Kula.
Three of 5 species and 38 of 69 hybrids flowered at the low elevation test site in Waimanalo, while all flowered at the Kula, control site.
Data linking the composition of taxonomic sections in the genealogy of hybrids with their ability to flower at warm temperatures are reported. Leucospermum species in the section Cardinistylus appear to convey some degree of warm temperature tolerance to the flowering ability of their hybrids.
These observations suggest that there is good potential for breeding and selection of “tropical pincushions” to advance and expand the Hawaii protea industry.

VIII International Protea Research Symposium

K.W. Leonhardt, T.E. Littleton, M.G. Wright

Leucospermum, protea, Proteaceae, pincushion, temperature tolerance, breeding, Principal Component Analysis

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.805.10