Floral biology and correlation studies in Heliconia

An investigation on ‘Floral biology and compatibility studies in Heliconia’ was carried with the objective of studying the floral biology of15 Heliconia species and varieties for sixteen floral characters. The study revealed that under South Kerala condition there was no uniformity in flowering behaviour of different varieties. Considering the flowering pattern, some of the varieties showed continuous flowering throughout the year, whereas some others were significantly seasonal. Pollen fertility estimated using acetocarmine staining method revealed that, Lady Di had the highest pollen fertility of 89.39% which is on par with Parakeet. The lowest pollen fertility was recorded for Guyana (23.23%). Variability studies revealed that highest variability for phenotypic component was observed for the character pollen fertility (97.97%) followed by anthocyanin content (87.76). Genotypic component of variability was highest with 86.16 percent for anthocyanin content. The characters anthocyanin content and number of flowers per bract recorded high heritability coupled with high genetic advance, which shows that genetic improvement of these characters are possible through selection. Correlation studies revealed that days from first to last flower opening showed significant positive phenotypic correlation with days from emergence to male phase and pollen size.