Sinningia 'Peninsula Belle' x piresiana

The best of this cross so far.

1. History
2. Genetics
3. Feature table

This picture shows a comparison of the flowers of S. piresiana and two of its hybrid progeny.  The seed parent of the hybrids was S. 'Peninsula Belle' (S. lineata x reitzii).  The S. piresiana flower is at the top.

History

The hybrid seed was sown in January 2007, and both plants bloomed for the first time in May 2007, at the same time as S. piresiana (S. 'Peninsula Belle' is a summer/autumn bloomer).

The middle flower has the most red, perhaps a legacy of S. reitzii.  It also has another desirable characteristic: four flowers per axil.  The other hybrid plant has only 1-2 flowers per axil.  However, these are young plants blooming for the first time, so I can hope the flower count will improve with maturity.

Genetics

One nice trait that both hybrids inherited from S. piresiana is the dark markings on the outside of the corolla.  This makes a blooming S. piresiana attractive from many angles, and applies to the hybrids as well.

Also noteworthy is the indeterminate habit.  The hybrid background is 3/4 determinate (1/2 piresiana and 1/4 lineata, which are both determinate).  Even so, the 1/4 reitzii (indeterminate) outweighs the other 3/4.  This suggests that determinate growth in sinningias requires the cooperation of several genes.

Similarly, S. (leopoldii x "Black Hill") x douglasii has indeterminate growth, even though only the "Black Hill" quarter exhibits the indeterminate trait.

This is discussed in more detail on the Distant Lights page.