Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Washington, D.C. » National Arboretum » Floral and Nursery Plants Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140454
Title: GENETIC DIVERSITY OF DENDRANTHEMA PACIFCUM (NAKAI) KITAM. NATIVE TO JAPAN

Author
item Roh, Mark
item IKEDA, HIROSHI - NAT INS FLORA SCI,JAPAN

Submitted to: Acta Horticulture Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2003
Publication Date: 12/15/2003
Citation: Roh, M.S., Ikeda, H. Genetic Diversity of Dendranthema Pacificum (Nakai) Kitam Native to Japan. Acta Hort. 2003. v:630 pp:239-244.

Interpretive Summary: Dendranthema pacificum native to Japan is being grown as a garden bedding plant. This chrysanthemum is unique in that it does not have ray florets (petals). However, in the United States, plants labelled as D. pacificum with ray florets are found in a trade. Further, there is a great variation in leaf shape and flowering time among many collected lines of Dendranthema pacificum. Therefore, more than 25 collections of Dendranthema pacificum and other Dendranthema species with ray florets were collected and they were evaluated horticulturally and also biochemically using molecular DNA markers. It was found that Dendranthema pacificum plant 1-7 with ray florets could be a hybrid between Dendranthema pacificum and other species with ray florets based on the appearance of flowers and on the analysis using DNA markers. Since there was great variations in plant size, flowering time, and the number of runners produced, selection of Dendranthema pacificum as a new bedding plant should consider all of these factors.

Technical Abstract: Dendranthema pacificum and other Dendranthema species were collected from the wild in Japan and also from the trade in the United States. They were evaluated in the greenhouse for growth and flowering responses and subjected to random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Genetic diversity of D. pacificum was observed by using molecular markers and also by greenhouse forcing evaluation. Dendranthema pacificum accession 1-7 collected in the trade in the United States could be a hybrid between D. pacificum and other species with ray florets based on the morphology and the RAPD analysis. Selection of D. pacificum as a new bedding plant should consider compactness of the plants, the number of runners produced, and also flowering time.