Species and Varieties

Species and Varieties
  • There are about fifteen species under the genus Polianthes, of which twelve species have been reported from Mexico and Central America.
  • Of these, nine species have white flowers, one is white and red and two are red.
  • Except Polianthes tuberosa L., all the others are found growing wild.
    Polianthes tuberosa L.:
  • An erect herb, 60-120 cm high with stout and short bulbs
  • Leaves basal, 6-9 in number, 30-45 cm long, about 1.3 cm wide, linear, bright green, reddish near the base,
  • Flowers funnel shaped, waxy white, the tube bent only near the base, filaments attached on upper part of corolla,
  • Fragrant, in long terminal racemes.
  • There are three types of tuberoses named on the basis of the number of rows of petals they bear. They are,
    • Single,
    • Semi-double,
    • Double and variegated,
  • The single type has the most fragrance.
  • The flowers are pure white and are popular among the growers for the production of essential oil.
  • Calcutta Single and Single Mexican the single varieties, are being grown in Tamil Nadu.
  • Suvasini a single type variety has been released by the IIHR, Bangalore.
  • Rajat Rekha – single flowered mutant has been released by the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow.
  • The 'Semi-double' type bears white flowers with two to three rows of corolla segments.
  • The 'Double' type has more than three rows of corolla segments and is white in colour. The flowers tinged with red in the 'Double' type are known as 'Pearl'.
    • Pearl Double is high flower yielder with quality.
    • Swarna Rekha is another double mutant, has been released by the NBRI, Lucknow. The leaf-margin is streaked with golden-yellow.
    • There are some streaked leaf-forms, known as 'variegated',
    • In others the flowers have little tinge of red in the bud-stage, which turns to white when fully open.
    • Other varieties include 'Albinos' and 'Excelsior'
Last modified: Monday, 11 June 2012, 4:01 AM