Delphinium malabaricum (Huth) Munz. : A Potential Ornamental Crop from Western Ghats

Abstract

Delphinium malabaricum (Huth) Munz. (Ranunculaceae), the only species of the genus Delphinium growing naturally in Western India, is endemic to Northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. It produces beautiful and attractive spurred flowers of violet blue color with splendid green rosette foliage. Herein, we report our preliminary observations relating to seed germination, growth performance and post harvest performance of cut flowering stems of this plant. The annotations revealed that the seeds germinated throughout the year but the germination percentage was very low in March, April and May when there is high temperature. Plants grown from seeds collected from a wild habitat exhibited variation in their vigor, branching, leaves, flower color and number. Phenological studies showed that the vase life of Delphinium cut flowers is 5-7 days and are very sensitive to ethylene. A combination of sucrose and silver nitrate was determined as the best holding solution for cut Delphinium blooms, as it prevented flower abscission and slightly delayed flower senescence. Selection and breeding efforts are underway to further improve plant growth, flower quality and display life of cut flowering axis.

Phenology of Solidago canadensis L. and Delphinium elatum cultivated under greenhouse conditions and association with micro-climate variables

“…On the other hand, in our study, for D. elatum the DW of the leaves was determinant in the TPDW along all the life cycle, with an average of Phenology of Solidago canadenSiS l. and delphinium elatum cultivated under greenhouse conditions and association with micro-climate variables 362 20 leaves/plant. This result is corroborated by Kolar et al (2017), referring to Delphinium malabaricum, where they reported numerous (18-34) palmatisect leaves with long petiole.…”

“…For D. elatum, natural light was sufficient for plant development which responds best to mean temperatures between 18 to 21 °C (Hanks, 2016). Similarly, Kolar et al (2017) mention that delphinium germinates very well at temperatures ranging between 23 ºC to 25 ºC during June, July and August when the relative humidity is very high in southern India.…”

Uso de soluciones azucaradas-ácidas de fácil formulación en pos cosecha de delfinio (Delphinium spp.)

“…Las soluciones evaluadas mantienen un medio ácido que tiene como efecto principal bajar la tasa de multiplicación de microorganismos, y por ende, retarda el efecto taponamiento de haces conductores que impide el ascenso de agua como fue demostrado por Van Doorn et al (1990). Por otra parte, en la medida en que se diluyó la cantidad de Sprite en las soluciones, disminuye el contenido de azúcar de las mismas, elemento que ha probado ser un sustrato de mantención de la actividad metabólica de los tallos cortadas aun cuando incremente la posibilidad de desarrollo de microorganismos (Kolar et al, 2017). Hay abundante literatura que respalda el uso de pH ácidos y azúcar en la pos cosecha de flores (Nowak y Rudnicki, 1990).…”