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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Poplarville, Mississippi » Southern Horticultural Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308692
Title: 'USS Alabama', 'USS Mississippi', 'USS Missouri', 'USS Tennessee' and 'USS Texas' Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinenis L.)

Author
item Pounders Jr, Cecil
item Sakhanokho, Hamidou

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2014
Publication Date: 11/3/2014
Citation: Pounders Jr, C.T., Sakhanokho, H.F. 2014. 'USS Alabama', 'USS Mississippi', 'USS Missouri', 'USS Tennessee' and 'USS Texas' Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinenis L.). HortScience. 49(11):1467-1469.

Interpretive Summary: ‘USS Alabama’, ‘USS Mississippi’, USS Missouri, ‘USS Tennessee’ and ‘USS Texas’ are new Chinese hibiscus clones that vary in their combination of traits, particularly flower color and growth habit. Plants of the five new hibiscus clones develop rapidly in containers. Old flowers abscise freely with no production of seed pods under normal culture. The phenotype of each clone may be affected somewhat by changes in cultural practices and environmental conditions such as high light intensity fading flower color, and excess nutrient levels darkening foliage color. Ultimate plant size is dependent on container size and environmental conditions.

Technical Abstract: Five new Chinese hibiscus cultivars are products from a planned hibiscus breeding program conducted by the inventors at Poplarville, MS. The goal of the research is to produce new clones with a combination of desirable horticultural traits. Desirable floral traits include early bloom, uniform flower size, range of flower colors, and an extended bloom cycle. Improved plant traits include well branched crowns and good garden performance in landscaped sized containers during hot, humid summers. ‘USS ALABAMA’, tested as HRS07-2(447), resulted from the cross: (‘Rose Red’ × ‘Cheri Orange’) × ‘Sundance’. ‘USS MISSISSIPPI’, tested as HRS07-3(510), resulted from the cross ‘Sunny Wind’ × ‘Gabriel’. ‘USS MISSOURI’, tested as HRS07-680, resulted from a series of crosses between polyploid H. rosa-sinensis clones that terminated in the cross [(‘Evangeline’ × ‘Brilliant Red’) × ‘Rose Red’] × [(‘Evangeline’ × ‘Brilliant Red’) × ‘Gabriel’]. ‘USS TENNESSEE’, tested as HRS07-2117, resulted from two complex parents, [(‘Evangeline’ × ‘Molly Cunningham’) × ‘Party Favor’] × [(‘Brilliant Red’ × ‘Rum Runner’) × ‘Evangeline’]. ‘USS TEXAS’, tested as HRS07-1390, resulted from a cross between an open pollinated ‘Cupid’ seedling and ‘Gabriel’.