Characteristics of colchiploid Phlox drummondii

Colchitetraploids were produced in a pure white flowered variety of Phlox drummondii, a garden ornamental, and studied for morphological and cytological characters for three successive generations. Flowers were bigger and their longivity was increased by 4–5 days in the colchiploids, thus, increasing their ornamental value. There was a sudden drop in quadrivalent frequency from C₀ to C₁ generation and this tendency was maintained in C₂ also which lead to rapid cytological diploidization of the colchiploids in the second generation itself.