Monday, December 17, 2012

Hybrids of Passiflora cearulea and loefgrenii

Flowers opened on two new plants on the balcony recently:

Passiflora 'Betty Myles Young' (P. caerulea 'Clear Sky' x P. loefgrenii)
Passiflora 'Betty Myles Young' bloom held in front of a vine
Passiflora 'Betty Myles Young'
P. 'Betty Myles Young' was created by using the tetraploid 'Clear Sky' as the female parent and P. loefgrenii as the male parent, while  Passiflora (loefgrenii x caerulea) was made using non-tetraploid (as far as I know) P. cearulea as the pollen parent and P. loefgrennii as the female parent at the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park.

Purple Passiflora hybrid flower
Passiflora (loefgrenii x caerulea)
The main differences I've noticed between the two plants are

  • 'Betty Myles Young' has larger leaves and flowers more vigorous vine in general
  • Flowers of loefgrenii x caerulea are slightly smaller, but darker and more evenly colored so far.
These differences are probably due to the increased chromosome count inherited from 'Clear Sky'.


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