We investigated the flower characteristics of 7 Alstroemeriaceae plants – 5 Alstroemeria L. species and 2 Bomarea Mirb. species. The flower and tepal sizes, and tepal colours were compared. The flower shape in Alstroemeria psittacina Lehm. was found to be similar to that in Bomarea coccinea (Ruiz & Pav.) Baker. | Y. KASHIHARA, K. SHINODA, N. MURATA, H. ARAKI, Y. HOSHINO Research Note Turk J Bot 35 (2011) 239-245 © TÜBİTAK doi: Evaluation of the horticultural traits of genus Alstroemeria and genus Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) Yukiko KASHIHARA1, Koichi SHINODA2, Naho MURATA2, Hajime ARAKI1,3, Yoichiro HOSHINO1,3,4,* 1 Division of Biosphere Science, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 11, Nishi 10, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0811 - JAPAN 2 National Agricultural Research Center for Hokkaido Region, Hitsujigaoka 1, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo 062-8555 - JAPAN 3 Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Kita 11, Nishi 10, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0811 - JAPAN 4 Division of Innovative Research, Creative Research Initiative ‘Sousei’ (CRIS), Hokkaido University, Kita 21, Nishi 10, Kita-ku, Sapporo 001-0021 - JAPAN Received: Accepted: Abstract: We investigated the flower characteristics of 7 Alstroemeriaceae plants – 5 Alstroemeria L. species and 2 Bomarea Mirb. species. The flower and tepal sizes, and tepal colours were compared. The flower shape in Alstroemeria psittacina Lehm. was found to be similar to that in Bomarea coccinea (Ruiz & Pav.) Baker. The length/width ratio of B. salsilla (L.) Mirb. was intermediate compared with that of the other species. These preliminary data will be useful in selecting wild species in order to examine interspecific or intergeneric hybridisations in the breeding of Alstroemeriaceae plants. Key words: Alstroemeria, Alstroemeriaceae, Bomarea, flower characteristics Introduction In recent years, Alstroemeria L. has become a popular and important cut flower species because it is available in a variety of colours and has a good vase life. There is always a demand for new cultivars of ornamental flower species, depending on the preferences of people worldwide. For example, the flowers of Alstroemeria exhibit particular spots on the tepal; this characteristic .
