Inheritance is Fun:
Update on Breeding Efforts in Cercis and Stokesia
Dennis J. Werner, Jessica Gaus, Layne Snelling, Freya Hopswood, and Jeff Adkins

Department of Horticultural Science
North Carolina State University

INTRODUCTION
Breeding and genetic studies of various herbaceous perennial and woody ornamentals have been initiated at North Carolina State University. In addition to development of new ornamental cultivars, the research program has focused on other related objectives including studies of reproductive biology, genetic diversity, propagation, and inheritance of important traits in these genera.
Stokesia
Stokesia laevis (Hill) E. Greene, stokes aster, is an herbaceous perennial native to the southeastern United States. Its range is quite restricted, with scattered populations found primarily in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia. Historically, stokes aster has enjoyed moderate popularity in the perennials industry. Stokes aster is a versatile plant that thrives in a variety of climates including full sun to part shade in well drained to moderately damp soils. The flowers of stokes aster, a member of the Asteraceae family, are perfect and composite. Renewed interest in this plant has been fueled by the introduction of ‘Omega Skyrocket’, and the more recent introductions of ‘Honeysong Purple’ and ‘Colorwheel’. Both cultivars have exciting new flower colors that make great additions to any landscape.
‘Omega Skyrocket’ was derived from a wild population of stokes aster demonstrating unique architecture discovered in central Georgia. This population, now lost due to agricultural use of the site, was discovered in Colquitt County, GA, near the town of Omega by Ron Dieterman of the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Plants in this population showed tall, upright flowering scape architecture, unlike the shorter, non-upright scapes typical of the species. ‘Omega Skyrocket’ has lavender-blue flower color typical of the species. Our initial breeding objectives have focused on incorporating the novel upright scape architecture into a broader range of flower colors. Accordingly, we have hybridized ‘Omega Skyrocket’ with cultivars ‘Alba’, ‘Mary Gregory’, ‘Peaches Delight’, and ‘Purple Parasols’, demonstrating white, yellow, violet, and deep violet flower color, respectively. First generation hybrid plants (F1 progeny) in all crosses demonstrate both violet-blue flower color and upright growth architecture characteristic of ‘Omega Skyrocket’, suggesting genetic dominance of these characters. Second generation (F2) plants have been obtained from all of these crosses. To date, we have recovered various interesting progeny that have potential as commercial cultivars. These progeny, as well as advanced selections from other hybrid combinations, will be discussed.
Cercis
The high number of interesting genetic variants in Cercis canadensis offers a number of exciting breeding opportunities. Traits of interest include red leaf color (‘Forest Pansy’), leaf variegation (‘Silver Cloud’), double flowers (‘Flame’), white flowers (‘Alba’), pink flowers (‘Withers Pink Charm’), violet-red flowers (‘Appalachian Red’), weeping growth habit (‘Traveller’ and ‘Covey’), purple fruit color (some accessions of Cercis canadensis var. mexicana), and glossy foliage (Cercis canadensis var. texensis). We have made hybridizations in numerous combinations between these taxa. The different F1 families have been established in isolation blocks at the Sandhills Research Station in Jackson Springs, NC for production of genetically pure F2 seed. This presentation will summarize our program objectives, and progress made in the breeding program to date.

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