Perennial Helianthus Breeding (last updated 10/1/2023)
The following is intended to document my breeding progress with perennial Helianthus (sunflowers). It will be updated as progress is made. Due to the differing ploidies between species it is important to document and track ploidy of each parent in a cross to predict the most likely resulting ploidy in offspring so that multiple generations of breeding work can be accomplished without running into dead ends with mismatched chromosome counts. Ploidies of 2n=2x, 2n=4x and 2n=6x are generally fertile to varying degrees while ploidies of 3x and 5x are generally infertile. The following is a list of Helianthus species, hybrids or selections currently being used as foundation stock in my breeding efforts: Helianthus ×laetiflorus 'Lemon Queen' (2n=6x) - heavily branching with exceptionally heavy flower production of pale lemon yellow flowers. Helianthus maximiliani PI 592333 (2n=2x) - from wild seed collected in Manitoba, Canada. I kept only one seedling from this batch which w