Screening of Early Flowering Lotus (<i>Nelumbo nucifera</i> Gaertn.) Cultivars and Effects of Different Cultivars on Flowering Period
Huiyan Jiang,
Junjie Chen,
Guangyang Liu,
Ping Zhou,
Qijiang Jin,
Yanjie Wang,
Huan Guo,
Ping Qian,
Yingchun Xu
Affiliations
Huiyan Jiang
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Junjie Chen
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Guangyang Liu
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Ping Zhou
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Qijiang Jin
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Yanjie Wang
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Huan Guo
Zhejiang Weida Garden Engineering Company, Hangzhou 311201, China
Ping Qian
Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area Management Committee, Hangzhou 310013, China
Yingchun Xu
Key Laboratory of Landscape Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Flower Biology and Germplasm Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Biology of Ornamental Plants in East China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Flowering time is an important trait that determines the breeding process of ornamental plants. The flowering period of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is mainly concentrated in June–August. During this period, the weather is hot and there are few tourists, which made many lotus scenic spots difficult to operate. People have a strong demand for early flowering lotus cultivars. In this paper, 30 lotus cultivars with high ornamental value were selected as materials and their phenological periods were observed for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020. A number of cultivars with early flowering potential and stable flowering periods, such as ‘Fenyanzi’, ‘Chengshanqiuyue’, ‘Xianghumingyue’ and ‘Wuzhilian’, were screened by K-Means clustering method. The relationship between accumulated temperature and flowering time of 19 lotus cultivars at different growth stages was analyzed. It was found that lotus cultivars with early flowering traits could adapt well to the changes of early environmental temperature and were not affected by low temperature. On the other hand, by analyzing the relationship between different traits and flowering time of three typical cultivars, such as rhizome weight, phenological period, etc., it shows that the nutrient content of the rhizome and the early morphology of plants will affect the flowering time. These results provide a reference for the formation of a systematic lotus early flowering cultivar breeding mechanism and the establishment of a perfect flowering regulation technology system, which can further improve the ornamental value of lotus and promote industrial development.
