Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) is one of the most widely cultivated herbaceous perennial flowering plants belonging to family Asteraceae. It is commonly known as Autumn Queen or Queen of East, and is extensively grown all over the world for its beautiful, charming flowers having excellent vase life. In India, chrysanthemum cultivation covers 20.14 thousand hectare, with loose flower production of 202.63 million tonnes and cut-flower production of 1415.79 lakh flowers (Anon., 2013). It is one of the most widely cultivated garden flowers with diverse and beautiful range of colours, shades, widely variable flower shapes and range of height (Swaroop et al, 2008). These characters make it highly suitable for pot culture, bedding purposes and for production of loose flowers for use in garland making, in worship and for decoration purposes. It also produces long, sturdy stems with good keeping quality, thus making it most suitable for cut-flower and exhibition purposes. Loose flower types are more popular in India for as these are used for making venis, garlands, bouquets and for religious offerings. Though a large number of chrysanthemum varieties are available in the market, novelty in commercial traits like flower colour, shape, size, growth habit, post-harvest life of the flower, etc., are always valued and preferred by the consumer. There is a perpetual demand for superior varieties Evaluation of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) genotypes for morphological traits Madhu Bala Department of Floriculture and Landscaping Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, India E-mail: madhu-flori@pau.edu ABSTRACT Thirty small-flowered genotypes of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) were evaluated for various morphological and floral characters at Research Farm, Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, PAU, Ludhiana, during 2013-14. All the varieties suitable for different purposes like pot culture, garden decoration, cut flower, loose flower and bedding purposes were evaluated. Results revealed that the genotypes differed significantly with each other with respect to plant growth and flowering parameters like plant height, number of branches per plant, plant spread, days taken to bud appearance, and, floral traits like number of flowers per plant, diameter of flower, flowering duration, flower colour and flower type. On the basis of morphological traits, the varieties were grouped into various categories for different purposes, viz., cut flower, loose flower, bedding/garden decoration and pot culture. Key words: Chrysanthemum, cultivars, quantitative traits, variability over the existing ones. It, thus, becomes necessary to evaluate and categorize available chrysanthemum varieties on the basis of their use. With this in view, investigations were undertaken to evaluate chrysanthemum varieties for various uses. The present study was carried out at Research Farm, Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in the year 2012-13. Ludhiana is situated between 33º55’ North Latitude and 75º54’ East Longitude at 247m above mean sea level. The soil at the experimental site was sandy-loam with pH 8.3 and good water-holding capacity besides medium fertility. For evaluation, 30 spray-type chrysanthemum varieties were used: Ajay, Apsara, Autumn Joy, Baggi, Banglori, Birbal Sahni, Chidori, Crystal Fall, Garden Beauty, Kelvin Mandarin, Kotai-Na-Katori, Naintara, Obsession, Olympia, Otome Pink, Purnima, Ratlam Selection, Ravi Kiran, Reagan Emperor, Reagan White, Santi, Punjab Gold, White Bouquet, White Staphour, Winter Queen , Wiron, Yellow Bonsai, Yellow Chram, Yellow Delight and Yukari. Rooted cuttings were transplanted to the main field during the 4th week of July, at a spacing of 30 x 30cm in beds 1.0m wide. Recommended package of practices was employed to obtain satisfactory plant growth. The varieties were planted in three replications, and five plants were Short communication J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 10(2):242-244, 2015 J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 10(2):237-241, 2015 243 Evaluation of chrysanthemum genotypes for morphological traits selected in each variety / replication for making observations. Data were analyzed using Randomized Block Design (RBD). Pinching operation was performed at two stages – the first at four weeks after transplanting, and the second at seven weeks after transplanting, to encourage emergence of lateral shoots. Adequate measures were taken to prevent lodging by staking the plants. Data on growth and floral parameters, viz., plant height at first bud appearance (cm), number of branches per plant, plant spread (cm), days taken to first bud appearance, number of flowers per plant, flower diameter (cm), flowering duration (days), flower colour and type, were recorded. Data presented in Table 1 on plant height at appearance of the first bud shows a difference among varieties. Results revealed that Reagan White was the tallest at the time of first-bud appearance (88.1cm), followed by Reagan Emperor (73.13cm), whereas, the variety ‘Chidori’ was dwarf compared to all other varieties tested, with the lowest plant height (12.7cm). Similar variations among different varieties of chrysanthemum for plant height have Table 1. Evaluation of chrysanthemum varieties for various morphological and floral attributes Variety Plant height at Number of Plant Days taken to Number Flower Flowering Flower Flower first-bud branches spread first-bud of flowers diameter duration colour Type appearance (cm) per plant (cm) appearance per plant (cm) (days) Ajay 45.06 3.33 39.86 67.33 54.00 4.73 32.00 Yellow Pompom Apsara 55.50 7.66 44.10 71.76 75.33 4.80 30.00 Creamish, Decorative with purple margins Autumn Joy 45.93 6.00 40.53 74.80 128.33 9.67 30.00 Pink Decorative Baggi 72.40 10.66 57.10 72.46 123.33 6.40 26.00 White Pompom Banglori 59.23 6.66 45.60 73.70 82.33 5.40 30.00 Yellow Pompom Birbal Sahni 58.20 3.66 36.60 70.49 27.33 5.53 23.00 White Pompom Chidori 12.70 7.00 20.26 73.36 75.66 2.36 36.67 White and Single Korean Yellow Crystal Fall 17.13 4.66 14.23 58.34 21.66 3.83 32.00 Red Decorative Garden Beauty 65.20 4.33 40.10 70.07 85.00 10.36 32.67 Maroon Spoon type Kelvin Mandarin 49.13 5.66 39.53 70.03 54.00 4.60 28.80 Deep orange Pompom Kotoi-Na-Kaori 16.23 4.66 30.33 61.32 159.33 3.30 41.00 Golden- Anemone bronze Naintara 66.26 6.00 46.96 65.19 187.33 4.46 37.00 Yellow Decorative Obsession 38.86 5.33 24.83 66.67 14.33 7.26 35.80 Pink Decorative Olympia 54.00 5.00 42.10 74.67 61.33 4.70 37.40 Orange Pompom Otome Pink 63.10 4.66 39.80 63.73 36.33 8.26 33.40 Pink, with Double Korean deep pink centre Punjab Gold 37.66 5.00 35.90 69.69 164.33 4.50 36.00 Yellow Double Korean Purnima 46.80 5.66 40.70 72.24 46.00 7.60 34.00 White Decorative Ratlam Selection 70.66 11.33 61.20 75.41 150.00 8.83 24.40 Creamish- Decorative white Ravi Kiran 58.37 5.33 49.76 65.42 45.33 9.63 30.00 Maroon Decorative Reagan White 88.10 6.66 53.73 55.18 51.66 7.50 36.33 White Single Korean Reagan Emperor 73.13 6.33 48.93 75.74 54.66 7.40 29.33 Purple-pink Single Korean Santi 46.23 4.66 36.73 72.93 33.66 6.40 39.00 Cream Decorative White Bouquet 38.83 6.33 33.23 62.40 62.66 4.66 38.00 White Pompom White Staphour 57.00 5.66 45.13 69.93 66.66 8.70 34.00 White Anemone Winter Queen 59.00 5.00 50.90 76.88 78.00 9.76 35.67 Pink Spoon type Wiron 58.03 5.33 40.60 67.34 42.33 5.23 30.00 Yellow, with Single Korean chocolate center Yellow Bonsai 32.66 5.66 45.33 76.82 319.33 4.33 38.60 Yellow Single Korean Yellow Chram 15.16 8.00 32.66 59.01 290.00 3.30 25.33 Yellow Anemone Yellow Delight 53.16 4.00 37.16 51.68 61.33 4.96 32.20 Yellow Pompom Yukari 16.33 6.33 23.13 65.34 179.33 2.70 34.00 Pink Single Korean CD (P=0.05) 1.84 1.04 4.21 10.69 11.92 0.35 1.49 — — C.V. (%) 2.31 11.00 6.46 9.57 7.73 3.72 2.78 — — SEM± 0.79 0.44 1.82 4.62 5.15 0.48 0.64 — — J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 10(2):242-244, 2015 244 been recorded earlier by various workers (Gaikwad and Dumbre Patil, 2001; Chahal, 2011). Highest number of branches per plant (11.33) was recorded in ‘Ratlam Selection’, followed by Baggi (10.66). Least number of branches per plant (3.33) was obseved in ‘Ajay’ (Kumar and Chattopadhyay, 2002). Swaroop et al (2008) also reported variation among varieties of chrysanthemum for number of branches. Maximum plant spread (61.2cm) was observed in ‘Ratlam Selection’, followed by Baggi (57.1cm). Minimum plant spread (14.23cm) was recorded in the variety ‘Crystal Fall’. Seventeen Chrysanthemum genotypes were also evaluated for vegetative growth, flowering and yield parameters by Kulkarni and Reddy (2004) who concluded that among the various accessions, Harvest Home, Mutant No. 9, Selection-5, Kurnool, Saraval and Chandrika were superior in terms of having fairly good plant-spread, number of branches, leaf area and good flower-yield, compared to the other genotypes. Days taken for appearance of the first bud is an important character signifying early or late flowering habit. Both these traits are helpful in ascertaining availability of flowers for a longer period. Maximum days taken to first bud appearance (76.82) was recorded in ‘Yellow Bonsai’. ‘Yellow Delight’ recorded minimum number of days (51.68) to first bud appearance. Variation for early and late flowering appears to be a genetically controlled trait in the varieties. Similar observations were made by Kanamadi & Patil (1993) in chrysanthemum. Number of flowers per plant was recorded as highest (319) in ‘Yellow Bonsai’, followed by ‘Yellow Charm’ (290), while, minimum number of flowers (14.33) were recorded in ‘Obsession’. As for flower diameter, ‘Garden Beauty’ recorded maximum flower diameter (10.36cm), while, ‘Chidori’ recorded minimum flower diameter (2.36cm). Longest flowering-duration was observed in ‘Kotoi-na- Kaori’ (41.00 days), while the shortest duration of flowering (23 days) was observed in the variety ‘Birbal Sahni’. Flowers of varied hues and shades, along with various flower-type, were observed among the varieties. Dilta et al (2005) also reported a wide range of diversity in the number of flowers, flower size and flowering duration in different varieties of chrysanthemum. Differences among chrysanthemum varieties have also been reported for several morphological and floral characters by Anuradha et al (2000) and Rao and Pratap (2006). Cultivars studied by us can be grouped as per morphological variation in plant height, flower size, and other characters. These varieties can also be categorized for different uses, like, cut-flower, (Reagan Emperor, Reagan White, Yellow Delight and Kelvin Mandarin); garden decoration and bedding purpose (Garden Beauty and Winter Queen); for loose flower production (Birbal Sahni, Baggi and Ratlam Selection) and the varieties Chidori, Yellow Charm and Punjab Gold for pot culture. REFERENCES Anonymous. 2013. http://www.indiastat.com/Area and production of chrysanthemum Anuradha, M., Arora, J.S. and Sidhu, G.S. 2000. Evaluation of chrysanthemum varieties for pot culture. J. Orn. Hort., 3:79-82 Chahal, S.S. 2011. Evaluation of varieties and standardization of media for pot culture of chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflorum Tzevlev). M.Sc. Thesis, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India Dilta, B.S., Sharma, Y.D. and Verma, V.K. 2005. Evaluation of chrysanthemum cultivars under sub-tropical region of Himachal Pradesh. J. Orn. Hort., 8:149-151 Gaikwad, A.M. and Dumbre-Patil, S.S. 2001. Evaluation of chrysanthemum varieties under open and polyhouse conditions. J. Orn. Hort., 40:95-97 Kanamadi, V.C. and Patil, A.A. 1993. Performance of chrysanthemum varieties in the transitional tract of Karnataka. S. Indian Hort., 41:58-60 Kulkarni, B.S. and Reddy, B.S. 2004. Vegetative growth, flower yield and quality of different chrysanthemum cultivars. J. Orn. Hort., 7:32-36 Kumar, M.A.R. and Chattopadhyay, T.K. 2002, Evaluation of chrysanthemum varieties for commercial cultivation. Environ. Ecol., 20:48-51 Rao, A.M. and Pratap, M. 2006. Evaluation of varieties and variability studies on chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzevlev.). J. Orn. Hort., 9:221-223 Swaroop, K., Prasad, K.V. and Raju, D.V.S. 2008. Evaluation of chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzvelev.) germplasm in winter season under Delhi conditions. J. Orn. Hort., 11:58-61 (MS Received 10 March 2015, Revised 20 July 2015, Accepted 27 July 2015) Madhu Bala J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 10(2):242-244, 2015