Hibiscus breeding techniques and newly evolved cultivars and varieties

1. Hibiscus Breeding
• 300 species widely distributed in tropical and sub-
tropical world. Of these, only four ornamental species,
H. rosa-sinensis L., H. schizopetalus Hook., H. mutabilis
L. and H. syriacus L. are grown almost all over the
tropics and sub-tropics.
• Among these, H. rosa-sinensis L. (Shoe Flower) is the
most important and beautiful. A large number of
types are found freely growing in India
• Most of the improvement work has been taken up in
sub-tropical areas such as Mauritius, Hawaii, Fiji,
India, California and Florida.
• In India, work was mainly taken up at IIHR, Lalbagh
Botanic Garden, Bangalore; TNAU, Coimbatore and
KAU, Trichur, besides some leading nurserymen.

2. Breeding Constraints
• Highly heterozygous nature
• Self and cross incompatibility in cultivars
• Polyploid- aneuploid complex (2n=46 to 144)
• Pollen sterility
• Failure of endosperm to develop
• Very rare seed set
• Fruit shredding

3. Breeding Objectives
• Breeding for improved colour, form, shape and good
keeping quality
• Good growth habit, vigour, strong root system,
attractive foliage
• Double flower varieties with variegated leaves
• Extended blooming period under poor light
conditions
• Varieties suitable for pot culture or as a garden
display
• To evolve varieties resistant to various pests and
diseases and
• To evolve varieties resistant to drought and winter
hardy

4. Inheritance pattern
• Bushy plant habit and edible calyx are monogenic
dominant
• Bloom colour determined by group of genes. Pink
flower colour is dominant over red flower
• Red flower colour completely dominant to white
• Monogenic dominant resistance to root knot
nematode
• Cold hardiness is governed by multiple genes

5. Species
• H. rosa-sinensis L.: called the Shoe flower or
Chinese rose.
• H. schizopetalus Hook.
• H. mutabilis L.: known as Changeable Rose or
Persian Rose.
• H. syriacus L.: known as Rose of Sharon, also
known as Tree Hollyhock or Althea shrub.

6. Cultivar
• Several hybrids with single and double flowers in varying
shades are available
• Single flower cultivars:
• 'Agnes' : Large flowers with cyclamen-pink and deep pink
centre.
• 'Australian Single' : Very large flowers and deep rose with
maroon centre.
• 'Glowing Sunset' : Deep glowing salmon orange
• 'Lipstick' : Bright red with dark centre.
• 'My Beauty' : Very large pink with a prominent maroon
centre.
• 'Netaji' : White flowers with crimson centre.
• 'Viceroy' : Small deep rose-red flowers.
• 'Waimeae' : Snow white with slightly fragrant flowers.

7. • Double flower cultivars:
• 'Alipore Beauty' : Grows like a tree, bearing deep
rosy medium-size flowers. Highly floriferous.
• 'Aurora' : Very large flowers with flesh pink colour.
• 'Chitra' : Marigold Orange flower.
• 'Daffodil' : Large size with true Daffodil yellow.
• 'Dream' : Large mauve flowers.
• 'Golden Gleam': Very huge attractive shade of
buttercup yellow.
• 'Juno': Large flowers with cerise colour.
• 'Mahatma': Big double flowers, cadmium orange
with red centre.

8. Breeding
• Many cultivars are completely sterile.
• Only a limited number of combined desirable
characters with a reasonable degree of fertility,
could be used as parents for the breeding
programme.
• The improvement of Hibiscus in India is mainly
done in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Kerala where the environmental conditions like
temperature and humidity are congenial for seed
setting.

9. Breeding Objectives
• Good growth habit,
• Floriferous nature,
• Desirable flower colour, size, shape
and good keeping quality

10. Introduction

11. Exotic Introduction
Contd.....

12. contd...

14. Selection

15. Pollination
• After selecting the desired female parents, flower buds are emasculated
with a fine forceps one day prior to the opening and these buds can be
tied in the middle with a thread so as to make it convenient for bagging.
• On the following day, pollen from- desired male parent which have been
bagged properly are brought along with the staminal column and slowly
smeared on the sticky stigmatic surface of the female parent.
• After crossing, the crossed flowers are bagged with a butter paper bag to
protect from further cross-pollination by insects.
• The pollinated flowers are labelled indicating the parents involved and
the date of crossing.
• After a week of crossing, the bags can be removed and the young
capsules may be allowed to develop under natural conditions.
• Generally, the successful crosses shows swelling of the capsule and do
not fall easily.
• Generally, the capsules take for seed maturity after hybridization 40 to 71
days under Bangalore conditions.

16. Promising Hybrids and Seedlings
• The intraspecific hybridization of H. rosa-sinensis
was undertaken mainly at
• IIHR, Bangaluru
• Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bangaluru
• TNAU, Coimbatore
and resulted in raising of large number of F1
progeny.

17. Varieties developed at IIHR, Hessaraghatta
Hybrid Parentage Feature
Arunodaya 'IIHR-H 2' and 'Rachaiah Flowers are single, Corolla
Nasturtium Orange
Ashirwad 'H.S. 21' and 'Hombe
Gowda
Flowers are single, Corolla
Cadmium Orange
Basant 'IIHR-1' and 'Rachaiah Flowers are single, Corolla
Sulphur Yellow
Nazneen 'H.S. 203' and
'Rashtrapati’
Flowers are single, Corolla
Tangerine Orange
Dr. B.P. Pal seedling selection of
'Lahiana
Flowers are single, corolla
whitish pink and turns to
rose pink

18. Hybrids Developed

19. Hybrids Developed

23. Mutation Breeding
• Three somatic mutants have been isolated, one in cv.
'Cruenthus' and two others in 'Alipore Beauty'. Both the
varieties were exposed in pots, under semi-acute
exposures.
• In cv. 'Cruenthus', a mutation with change of flower form
from double to single type has been established.
• In cv. 'Alipore Beauty' two somatic mutants one with deep
red flower colour as against light red carmine colour and
the other with deep red flower colour coupled with semi-
double form with an average of 12-15 petals have been
isolated.
• Single flower mutant of cv. 'Alipore Beauty' through
induction of gamma rays and it has been named as 'Anjali'.