What Is Hybridizing Chrysanthemums?

Hybridization

• The efforts of wind, bees, animals and human intervention pollinate flowers. Some flowers fertilize themselves by being self-pollinating. Open-pollinated flowers within the same species cross-pollinate each other to make new combinations of flower colors and forms, a process called hybridization. Plants are capable of naturally hybridizing themselves; however, hybridization also occurs through human manipulation. Removal of a stamen containing a pollen-topped anther from one flower and dispersal to the sticky stigma atop another flower's pistil results in cross-pollination. Viable seeds are desired results of hybridization.

Benefits of Hybridizing

• Principles of genetics dictate that not all seeds resulting from cross-pollination efforts will be viable, failing to germinate. Seeds that germinate can produce weak plants incapable of reproducing. Successful hybridization, however, produces new plants with hybrid vigor, containing desired traits from both parents. More than 2,000 years after their first mention in recorded history by Confucius, chrysanthemums are favorites for American hybridizers. Flowers take a multitude of forms, colors and sizes, from tiny daisies to huge dahlia- and cactus-flowering varieties.

Drawbacks of Hybridizing

• Although hybrid vigor produces colorful, profuse flowers, hybridized chrysanthemums are susceptible to a host of diseases. Viral infections have no cure and spread quickly by insect vectors. Mold and mildew are fungal diseases caused by different fungi, and spread more quickly in moist, humid conditions. Another fungus causes wilt disease, which can cause chrysanthemums not to produce flowers. Blight and crown gall are bacterial diseases that compromise plant health. To correct plant defects from excessive hybridization, scrupulous sanitation detail, attention to chrysanthemums' needs and diligent culture of these flowers is required.

Hybridizing Research

• Medical findings at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reveal promising results for prostate cancer victims. Preliminary research proves that Chrysanthemum mori folium is one of eight plant derivatives in an anticancer serum that kill cancer cells in laboratory conditions. A proprietary blend that includes chrysanthemums, mushrooms, ginseng and licorice is the successful combination. Although newer to Western medicine than centuries-old traditional Chinese remedies, herbal solutions to medical problems are achieving credible standing in American medicine and research.