Morphological and cytogenetic characterization of new ornamental Passiflora hybrids (P. ‘Vivis’ and P. ‘Jhovi’)

The present study was performed for the morphological and cytogenetic description of F₁ hybrids obtained from a cross between Passiflora coccinea Aubl. and Passiflora hatschbachii Cervi. Hybridization was confirmed by genomic in situ hybridization (GISH). Corona banding was the most relevant floral descriptor for separating the hybrids into two groups, the cultivars P. 'Vivis' and P. 'Jhovi', and the parents and hybrids had diploid chromosome number 2n = 18. The F₁ progenies exhibited normal meiotic behavior with normal tetrad production, which guaranteed high pollen viability (>70%) and fertile hybrids. Therefore, P. 'Vivis' and P. 'Jhovi' have the potential to be used for ornamental plants market.

Keywords:
Interspecific hybrid; P. ‘Vivis’; P. ‘Jhovi’; pollen viability; GISH.