Preface It was the flower that first ushered the idea of beauty into the world the moment long ago, when floral attraction emerged as an evolutionary strategy. A handful of flowering plants that manage to manufacture chemicals with the precise molecular key needed to unlock the mechanism in our brain governing pleasure, memory and may be even transcendence. In cultures around the world as far back in history as we have any records, flowers provided emotional information among peoples. Hence, flowers find prime place in the gardens. It has been increased tremendously due to urbanization and change in the life styles of people. Gardens are increasingly recognized as place of happiness and valued for their therapeutic and restorative qualities. Happiness in human facilitates both immediate and long-term social and cognate functions and may lead to long-term survival benefits. India prevail varied agro-climatic conditions and opens door to grow wide range of flowering plants. In the garden flowering plants, attractive and novel flowers have paramount importance. Same time cost and pollution reduction of landscape and garden plants may be achieved by development of insect pests and disease resistant varieties. It is possible through genetic engineering. Novelty is an important driver of new variety development in the garden flowering and bedding plant industry. Colour modification with different hue, enhancement of flower life in the garden and manipulation of plant and flower form are all attractive traits from a marketing point of view. Petunia is the first plant where successful genetic engineering of flower colour is done. Pot plants are also held by consumers longer and so potential traits of interest also extend to any modifications that will add value to the end product. These would be challenges before breeders. Hence, information collected and compiled in a book form “Breeding of Garden Flowers”. The present book contains information on breeding of 27 flowering plants including shrubs, bedding plants, aquatic plant, climbers and potted plants. The book dealt with 5 fundamental chapters and Glossary of breeding terms. Efforts made by various workers/scientists have been compiled by citing more than 2100 references. Achievements have also been depicted in 122 tables. I trust this book will be helpful to the M.Sc. & Ph.D. students, scientists, teachers, breeders, hobbyists and gardeners.

Wild relatives of cultivated plants constitute a part of crop genepool, which possess genes that have great potential for their utilization in crop improvement programmes. Wild genepools especially those occurring in biotically disturbed habitats are under threat of genetic erosion and require immediate collection to make use of their wider adaptability, tolerance/resistance to disease, insect-pests, yield, quality attributes and other biotic and abiotic traits. The wild relatives of crop plants occur in all the major phytogeographical regions of India as component of different vegetation types and exhibit variable life forms and habitat specificity. High priority demand is towards collection of those that are at the risk of erosion due to habitat disturbance by manmade/natural causes and over-exploitation of species for commercial use.

INTRODUCTION Heterosis has contributed significantly towards increased crop production and it has become the basis of multibillion dollar agro-businesses in the world (Phillips, 1999). Hybridization is the important way that can create genetic variability and make new options. The F1 population is obtained from the crossing of two homozygous but genetically dissimilar gametes or individuals (purelines in self pollinated crops or inbred lines in cross pollinated crops) that shows increased or decreased vigour over the better or mid parent value. Heterosis is maximum in F1, generation which diminishes gradually in later generations. Hence, production of F1, hybrid seeds of different flower crops is considered as the extreme focused area in floriculture industry.

Since floricultural and ornamental crops are grown for aesthetic purpose and are non-edible there is likely to be less concern in bio safety issues compared to other food crops. Hence there is considerable potential for developing transgenics in ornamental crops. Advances in transgenic technology provide new opportunities for manipulation of the genome. These will have significant impact on expanding and diversifying the gene pool of crop plants, introducing specific genes and shortening the time required for the production of new varieties or hybrids. Molecular breeding is beneficial to increase the production and quality by creating plants with enhanced resistance to diseases, insects or viruses and increased tolerance to environmental stresses like salinity, temperature or drought. Through this technique genes for shelf life, flower colour and architecture may be directly transferred to develop new varieties that are tailor made to customer preferences. Bioluminescent orchids and blue roses are the significant outcomes of the genetic transformation studies in ornamentals (Swarnapiria, 2009).

INTRODUCTION The seed (or zygotic seed) is the vehicle that connects one generation to another in much of the plant kingdom. By means of seed, plants are able to transmit their genetic constitution in generations and therefore seeds are the most appropriate means of propagation, storage and dispersal. A synthetic seed or ‘synseed’ is “an encapsulated single somatic embryo”, i.e., a clonal product that can be handled and used as real seed for transport, storage and sowing and that, therefore, would eventually grow either in vitro or ex vitro, into a plantlet through a process of “conversion”. Now a day, artificial seed technology is one of the most important tools to breeders and scientists of plant tissue culture.

INTRODUCTION Seed is one of the most vital and important inputs for increasing agricultural production. Commercial flower seed production is an international business involving highly specialized growers. Compared with the production of seeds of cereals, pulses oilseed even vegetable seeds, it is done on a relatively small scale. However, a large number of species are being produced under very different cultural conditions. It seems to have great scope for expansion in developing countries like India, especially under northern India climatic zones having favourable growing conditions, skilled and cheap labour.

Plants belonging to the Rhododendron subgenera Pentanthera (deciduous) and Tsutsusi and Azaleastrum (evergreen) are called azaleas. Azalea belongs to family Ericaceae. Azaleas are one of the favourite ornamental plants used by home owners and professional landscapers. They are used as foundation, accent, individual specimen plants, and as mass plantings. Azaleas are good companion plants, working well in designs with many trees, shrubs and ground covers, offering a variety of landscape options. Azaleas can be found in all ranges of colours, from delicately pink-tinged white to strong, bright red, and there are species that has the startling colour of flame. Its bold colour scheme has caused people to carry it far and wide, for use wherever a sudden note in strong hue is appropriate among the milder expressions of the rest of the flowers. The evergreen azalea, Rhododendron simsii  Planch., is one of the most important pot plants in Western Europe and the USA. The breeding history of this vegetatively propagated plant is a relatively short one, and breeding has been focused on flower characters because the public is continually asking for new flower colours and flower types.

Bougainvilleas (Bougainvillea spp.) are tropical and sub tropical plants belonging to Nyctaginaceae family. They are thorny, evergreen and some are fragrant. Bougainvillea is named for “Louis A. de Bougainville”, a French navigator (1729-1811) who discovered the plant in Brazil in 1768. Bougainvillea plant spreading horizontally or hanging downwards as it is climbing upwards, it makes itself at home in almost any situation. It can be grown as a hedge, groomed as a ground cover, pruned as an espalier, trained as a tree or contained in a pot in a variety of shapes. Bougainvillea is ideal for bonsai. Red, violet, orange, yellow or white bracts appear at the ends of new growth.

The  Camellia  is  one  of  our  most  beautiful  and most  appreciated ornamental  plants belonging to the family Theaceae. The genus Camellia was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist “Georg Joseph Kamel”. Camellias represent gratitude, love and perfection and are a perfect way to tell someone they possess those qualities. The camellia is the state flower of Alabama. Industrial use of Camellia is in the oil industry. Seeds of several species belonging to the sections Oleifera, Paracamellia, Camellia and Furfuracea are used for extracting edible oil, which is used extensively for cooking in China (Ming, 2000, Gao et al., 2005 and Zhang et al., 2007). In China, more than 3 million hectares are used for camellia oil production and nearly 645000 tons of seeds are harvested each year, which yield nearly 164000 tons of edible oil (Ming, 2000 and Gao et al., 2005).

Lagerstroemia indica belongs to family Lythraceae commoly known as Crape myrtle. It it grown well in India for various landscape purposes. It is called Sawani or Shravani (Hindi), Dhayti (Marathi), Chinagoranta (Telugu), Pavalakkurinji (Tamil). Lagerstroemia a long period of striking rainy season flower colour, attractive fall foliage and good drought-tolerance all combine to make a favourite shrub or small tree for either formal or informal landscapes. It is a deciduous, multi stemmed; rounded crown; dense branching and is highly recommended for planting in urban and suburban areas.

Hibiscus a well known member of the family Malvaceae, grows as an evergreen shrub plant. The plant is extensively cultivated as an ornamental plant that bears large flowers on the bushy hedges. These enormous flowers are usually dark red in colour and are not usually fragrant. The huge size and the reddish colour and hues attract humming birds (Kumar and Singh, 2012). The generic name is derived from the Greek word “hibiskos” which was the name Pedanius Dioscorides gave to Althaea officinalis. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis was named by Carolus Linnaeus. The Latin term “rosa-sinensis” literally means “rose of China”, though it is not closely related to the true roses. Member species are often noted for their showy flowers and are commonly known simply as hibiscus, or less widely known as rose mallow. The hibiscus is used as an offering to goddess Kali and Lord Ganesha in Hindu worship. Hibiscus is an important flowering and garden plant. It has various medicinal values (Chopra et al., 1996 and Sayed et al., 2012).

The genus Hydrangea is the best-known member of family Hydrangeaceae tribe Hydrangeae from the Asterid order Cornales. With more than two centuries of horticultural trade, Hydrangea cultivars are among the most popular ornamental shrubs worldwide (McClintock, 1957 and Kardos et al., 2009). Hydrangea (Hortensia) is a very popular ornamental plant for gardens. Hydrangeas occur most often on partly shaded but open slopes, rock edges, cliffs, roadside banks, edges of woods, or in moist open woods. Usually, restricted to the more moist, protected slopes. Recently it is commercialized for the production of cut flowers (Sacco et al., 2012). In India is widely grown in hilly areas.

Ixora is an ornamental plant which is a medium-sized, tropical flowering, evergreen shrub that is used in landscapes. The genus Ixora belongs to the family Rubiaceae. The plants have glossy green leaves which are arranged oppositely along each stem. All Ixoras produce clusters of star-shaped flowers on stem tips or terminal growth. They are grown for their beautiful flowers which bloom in summer in clusters of different shades of red, pink or yellow (De Block, 1998 and Husain and Paul, 1988). The colour of the wild flowers is red or reddish-orange but ornamental varieties may have white, yellow, salmon or pink flowers. It is commonly known as West Indian Jasmine. The other common names of this plant are Jungle Geranium, Flame of the Woods, Jungle Flame, Burning Love, Red Ixora, Ixora, Amor Ardiente, Cruz de Malta, Dola de Coral, Equisosea and Rajana (Griffiths,1994 and Liogier,1997), Rangan, Kheme, Ponna, Chann Tanea, Techi, Pan, Santan, Jarum-Jarum and many more. Members of Ixora prefer acidic soil and are suitable for bonsai (Frommer, 2001). I. coccinea is used extensively for landscaping and is also grown as a potted ornamental (Lakshmanan et al., 1997). Ixora coccinea and Ixora parviflora are generally used as the ornamental plants in gardens and parks.

Nerium (Nerium oleander L.) belongs to family Apocynaceae is a Mediterranean evergreen shrub characteristic of watercourses, gravely places and damp slopes (Portis et al., 2004 and Herrera, 1991). The first Oleanders came to subtropical Galveston in 1841. Joseph Osterman, a prominent merchant, brought them from Jamaica. After distributing these oleanders, these new plants were growing throughout the city. Later as early as 1908, an editorial in the Galveston Tribune observed that the oleander was emblematic of Galveston. In 1910, The Galveston Daily News also reported that Galveston was known throughout the world as “The Oleander City” and in 1916, an article named it one of the most beautiful cities in the South. It is widely grown as an ornamental in warm temperate and subtropical regions, due to its abundant and long-lasting flowering and moderate hardiness. It is used for screens, hedging along highways, planting along beaches and in urban areas as, by removing suckers and leaving just a few stems, it can also be formed into very attractive small trees (Portis et al., 2004). Nerium oleander is among the most toxic of all ornamental plants. More than fifty toxins have been isolated, including cardiac glycosides, general cell toxins and the strychnine-like compound rosagenin. The ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco took its name from the old Latin name for the flower.

Rhododendron belongs to family Ericaceae. The word “Rhododendron” is derived from the ancient Greek word “rhódon” which means rose and “déndron” which means tree. This genus is characterized by shrubs and small to (rarely) large trees. The smallest species grow up to 10–100 cm tall and the largest Rhododendron giganteum is reported to grow over 30 m tall. They are noted for their clusters of large flowers. The alpine species have small flowers and small leaves and tropical species grow as epiphytes. The colour of the rhododendron flower is available in nearly every colour of the rainbow including various shades of blue, yellow, pink white, red, orange and purple. Rhododendron flower from January through August, depending on the location and the climate.

Ageratum is a winter season annual that is grown for its beautiful flowers. It belongs to family Asteraceae. The word “Ageratum” is derived from the Greek words “ageras” meaning non-aging referring to the longevity of the whole plant. Ageratum houstonianum (flossflower, bluemink, blueweed, pussy foot, Mexican paintbrush) syn. Ageratum mexicanum Hort. is a cool-season annual plant often grown as bedding in gardens. Ageratum houstonianum is from Mexico and is named after William Houston (1695-1733), a Scottish physician who collected the first ageratum plants. The flowers are blue in colour (sometimes white, pink, or purple). The ray flowers are threadlike leading to the common name and are used for flower arrangements and potted ageratum plants are used for beautification of the surroundings. Growing ageratum is very easy under suitable climatic conditions. The genus Ageratum consists of some ornamental species, but only a few species have been phytochemically investigated (Burkill, 1985). A. houtsonianum contains essential oil the main constituents were precocene I (23.34%), precocene II (43.99%) and beta -caryophyllene (9.18%) (Menut et al., 1993 and Shahi et al., 1996).

Impatiens balsamina (Balsam, Garden Balsam or Rose Balsam or Gulmehndi) is a species of Impatiens widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in landscaping belongs to the family Balsaminaceae. It is a qualitative short-day plant, propagated by seed and is one of the popular species of North India. It is called kamantigue in the Philippines. This species of Kamantigue are used in teas. In many English speaking countries they are known as “Touch me not”, possibly due to the ripe seed pods explosively bursting when touched. Different parts of the plant are used to treat disease and skin afflictions such as the leaves, seeds, and stems. It is also edible if cooked. Juice from balsam leaves treats warts and also snakebite, while the flower can be applied to burns to cool the skin. Impatiens balsamina L. has been used as indigenous medicine in Asia for the treatment of rheumatism, fractures, and fingernail inflammation. In Korean folk medicine Impatiens (‘Bong Seon Wha Dae’) has been used to cure constipation and acute gastritis by meat. There are mainly four forms of I. balsamina namely red, purples, white and pink.

Cosmos is a flowering plant belongs to family Asteraceae. Cosmos bipinnatus is ornamentally important species grown for garden display. The word cosmos is derived from the Greek word “kosmos”, which means a balanced universe or order, harmony and often referred to as Mexican Aster. The species name is from the Latin “bipinnatus” meaning “twice-pinnate” The botanical epithet is from the Latin “pinnatus” meaning “with leaflets arranged in opposite pairs”. Cosmos flowers are produced in a capitulum. Modern varieties come with single or double flowers, picotee edges, and even furled petals in the variety Seashells. Ornamental uses of cosmos include cut flowers and as border annual in the gardens. It is a very popular flower for summer bedding. Cosmos has a pleasant aroma and attracts butterflies to the garden. Essential oil extracted from leaves of cosmos. The major constituent of C. bipinnatus contained 15-17% beta-elemene, 15-17% beta-caryophyllene, 10-21% germacrene D and 12-15% bicyclogermacrene (Menut et al., 2000).

Impatiens is the most popular bedding plant grown worldwide. The genus Impatiens is estimated to contain about 850 species (Grey-Wilson, 1980b). The majority is native to tropical and subtropical regions of India and Africa. The popularity of Impatiens walleriana is mainly due to its propensity for producing large numbers of flowers under low light intensity (Simmonds, 1980). Due to the high economic value and consumer demand for bedding impatiens, there has been a concerted effort by plant breeders to release a wide range of cultivars having different flower colours and distinctive foliage. Previously known as I. sultanior, I. holstii, it has several common names including “Busy Lizzie” and “Patience Plant”. It is one of two important groups of Impatiens in the horticulture industry with the New Guinea Impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) group being the other. Despite being Impatiens walleriana is one of the most important bedding plants in the world, information on I. walleriana relatively scarce. Impatiens walleriana continues to lead as one of the three most important bedding plants worldwide. It is available as both seed and vegetative products. The history of its development, marketing success, wide adaptability, a large palette of flower colours and forms and unparalleled garden performance as a bedding plant for shade are described as an aid for continued crop development with breeding lessons for other flowering crops.

Pansy belongs to the family Violaceae, genus Viola and species tricolor. Pansy also known as butterfly flower, cat face. Pansies are annuals or short-lived perennials, grow 15-30 cm tall and have heart-shaped leaves at the base and oblong leaves growing from the stems. The pansy is quite durable and a “flower for all seasons”. The fragrant and edible blooms are desirable in gardens. Pansy popularity increases possible due to its ease of growing. Whether grown from seed or bedding plants, pansies are relatively disease and pest free blooming prolifically for the gardener’s enjoyment.

Petunias (Petunia spp.) are annual or perennial plants belonging to Solanaceae family. The common kinds are rather weedy in habit, but their great profusion of bloom under all conditions makes them useful and popular.  They are small herbs grown for their showy, often fragrant flower. The geographic distribution includes temperate and subtropical regions of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil, with a centre of diversity in Southern Brazil. For longer flowering season they may be grown in bed borders, edgings, rock garden, window boxes, hanging baskets and pots. Petunia is considered to be the first cultivated bedding plant and has remained as a commercially important ornamental crop since the early days of horticulture and is one of the favourite genera for developing new varieties. Apart from its significance as an ornamental crop, petunia has proved to be one of the most excellent model crops for studies on gene regulation and genome structure, since the system combines innumerable and excellent technical features with a broad range of research possibilities.

Phlox is a perennial and annual flowering plant belongs to family Polemoniaceae. “Phlox” is a Greek word meaning “flame” and was most likely named thusly due to its bright and vivid colours. Phlox originally came from North America and was available in England by the early 1800s. It quickly grew in popularity and today it is still found growing wild in gardens across the world. Among perennials, Phlox paniculata, Phlox divariecata, Phlox glaberrima are earliest species to be cultivated and reached to England and France from Virginia (USA) in the early 18th century. Among annuals, Phlox drummondii is commonly grown in India. Annual phlox is propagated by seeds, whereas, cutting is used as propagating material for perennial species. Phlox is grown in the garden as bedding and border plant for its dramatic, fragrant, showy and long blooming flowers. The colour range includes white, rose, pink, purple, lavender, violet, pale blue, bright red and magenta. Some flowers are bicoloured.

Salvia belongs to family Lamiaceae. The genus Salvia comprises about 900 species which are grown for their ornamental flowers since they make excellent and showy borders in gardens. One of the species most commonly grown is Salvia splendens is a tender herbaceous perennial, but grown in India as winter season annual flowering plant. It bears racemes of bright scarlet flowers of large size. It has ability to grow under partial shade condition. It is commonly grown as bedding plant due to varying colours mostly scarlet, purple, orange, lavender and yellow and long lasting flowers. The word salvia was derived from Latin word ‘Salvare’ meaning ‘to heal or to be safe and unharmed’ (Blumenthal et al., 2000 and Kamatou et al., 2008) later it was translated in French as “sauge” or “sage” and in old English “Sawge” (Kamatou et al., 2008).

Zinnia is a very important summer annual belongs to family Compositae. Zinnia was named for the man who wrote the first scientific description of the flower, “Dr. Johann Gottfried Zinn” a German Professor of medicine, but it was the late 19th century that plant breeders started to pay any attention to this plant. Zinnia is a half hardy plant. They are popular for bedding however, cut flowers of zinnia remain fresh for several days. They are easy to grow from seeds. Collection of open pollinated seeds is in common practice in India. Non-uniformity of bloom with respect to colour, flower shape and size, height of the plants and excessive etiolation of the plants result into poor sale of zinnias.

Begonia is a perennial flowering plant belongs to family Begoniaceae. Begonia has rich colour and beautiful form of flowers. It is free flowering and striking foliage with free growth. The name Begonia is given by Franciscan monk Charles Plumier a plant which he found during his journey from Haiti to island Martinique. He dedicated this plant to “Michel Begon” the man who had the direct manmade over the expeditions. Begonia is easy to propagate and grown from seeds and vegetative means particularly cuttings. It is a popular flowering potted plant grown in containers and hanging baskets including tuberous, semperflorens, Rex, Elatior, Loraine and gracilis. Modern commercially cultivated begonias are mostly hybrids between wild types from all over the world.

Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), commonly known as prickly pear, belongs to the family Cactaceae. In local parlence, cactus is called nagphani or danda thohar. In Tamil Nadu, it is commonly known as chapathi balli. The word “cactus” derived through Latin from the ancient Greek kaktos, a name used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant (Johnson et al., 1972) which may have been the Cynara cardunculus (Sonnante et al., 2007). It is a storehouse of virtues that have been commercially unexploited so far in India. In addition, certain genera, such as Optuntia and Nopalea have economically useful plant parts. Different parts of the cactus can be used as fruit and vegetable for human consumption, fodder for cattle, and raw material for various industries to prepare plywood, soap, dyes, adhesives and glue, pharmaceutical products for treating blood sugar and various other disorders, and cosmetics such as shampoo, cream, and body lotions, etc. (Barbera et al., 1995 and  Pimienta, 1994). Similarly, the tender young pads of Optunia and Nopalea species, known as nopalitos, are extensively used as a fresh green vegetable in Mexico and Texas. Even its seeds can be used as flavouring agents. Use of cactus pear as a waterproof paint for homes is also reported.

Dahlia (Dahlia spp.) syn. Georgina belongs to family Compositae (Asteraceae). Dahlia was named after “Professor Andreas Dahl”, a Swedish pupil of Linnaeus and author of Observations Botanicae. In India, dahlia is grown as potted plant and landscape uses but it is a poor crop as commercial flower due to shorter commercial life and its potentialities have not been exploited so far. Therefore, there is need to originate more and more new quality cultivars. Dahlias are half-hardy perennials with tuberous roots. Stems are mostly erect, branched, glabrous or scabrous. The leaves 1-3 pinnate, with slightly serrated margin are produced opposite at each node on the stem. They bear flowers on a long, stiff stems well above the foliage. Ray florets are neutral or pinnate and disc florets perfect.

Geranium (Pelargonium spp.) belongs to the family Geraniaceae. The name Pelargonium was introduced by Johannes Burman a Dutch Botanist in 1738, from the Greek word “Pelargos” means stork because the seed head looks like a stork’s beak.  Due to their long and beak-shaped fruits, they are also known by the name of cranesbills. Geraniums are popular flowering plants and grown as decorative pot plants for indoor and outdoor. There is a world demand for the rose geranium essential oil of Pelargonium species which contains geraniol, linalool and citronellol, substitutes for the expensive attar of roses in the perfume trade. Pelargonium species was known for their medicinal value by the earliest indigenous people (Swanepoel, 2009).

Orchids belong to family Orchidaceae, the largest family of the flowering plants. The term ‘orchid’ has its origin from the Greek word, “orchid” meaning “testicle”, referring to the paired underground tubers of terrestrial orchids. There are several generas in orchids, which are popular for their separate importance as cut flower, pot plant, medicinal properties, flavour extraction, etc. The fascinating flowers exhibit an incredible range of shape, size and colour, long life of flowers on plant and an amazingly long keeping quality, which no other plant can claim.

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is one of the most popular ornamental pot plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. The botanical name Euphorbia pulcherrima means very beautiful. Euphorbia pulcherrima the name originally given by German botanist Karl Ludwig Wilenow was changed to “Poinsettia” in honour of “Mr. Poinsett” in 1836 by William Prescott. Poinsettia is a short-day, non-food and non-feed vegetatively propagated ornamental plant. Poinsettias are fascinating winter blooming small shrubs or trees which can grow anywhere from about 0.6 to 5 m tall. The coloured bracts of poinsettia plants are actually leaves. Colours of the bracts can be red, pink, orange, white or marbled. These coloured bracts are caused by photo-periodism. Poinsettias have also been called the lobster flower and the flame-leaf flower due to the red colour. California is the top U.S. Poinsettia-producing state.

Lotus belongs to the Nelumbonaceae family and the genus Nelumbo. There are two species in this genus; Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. distributed in Asia and Oceania, and Nelumbo lutea distributed in North and South America (Qichao and Xingyan, 2005). Although, the species nucifera is the most important (commercially and culturally), it is critical to describe the American species, evaluate its horticultural value and its potential as a source of genetic diversity. The American species, represented by Nelumbo lutea (Syn. N. pentapetala or Nelumbium luteum) is known as American Lotus, Water-chinquapin and Yellow Lotus (Sayre, 2004) and is native to the eastern and central portions of the US ranging from Maine to Wisconsin and in the south from Florida to Texas. It is one of the most spectacular and graceful aquatics among all the native plants of India. N. indica are found all over India and extend as far as Kashmir to Kanyakumari exhibiting enormous thermoplasticity and phenotypic diversity with a large number of racial variants with different shapes, sizes and colours. First Indian fossilised record of N. nucifera has been reported from the Pleistocene epoch of Kashmir. The presence of Nelumbo in the Tertiary period of Assam is reported on the basis of impressions of leaves and rhizomes found in the collection from Eocene bed near Damalgiri. These records confirm the evidence in support of the view that N. nucifera is indigenous to India.

Clematis is member of the Ranunculaceae family which also known as buttercup family. This cosmopolitan genus comprises climbing lianas, small shrubs and erect sub-shrubs distributed predominantly in the temperate zone of both hemispheres but with some species distributed in tropical areas (Tamura, 1995, Johnson, 1997, Grey-Wilson, 2000 and Wang and Li, 2005). The word clematis is taken from Greek as in “klema” meaning “a vine branch”. Most species are known as Clematis in English while some are also known as Traveller’s joy, Leather flower, Vase vine and Virgin’s bower the last three being names used for North American species (Chawla et al., 2012).

Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is the only species in the genus Lathyrus and family Fabaceae which is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant. Lathyrus comes from the Greek word “Lathyros” in which the prefix “la” means “very” and suffix “thyros” means “passionate”. The “Odoratus” is derived from Latin word which means “fragrant” (Fernald, 1950). It is mainly grown for its beautiful flower colour forms. It is an annual climbing plant growing to a height of 1-2 m with the support of a terminal tendril which twines around the plants and helps to climb. The illness caused by the ingestion of sweet pea is known as odoratism or sweet pea lathyrism. Sweet pea was used to verify Mendel’s work with the garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) in the early 1900s (Bateson, 1902). The genetical phenomenon of linkage was first demonstrated in the sweet pea. It is used prominently as a model organism to study flower development due to its large, colourful and fragrant flowers. The essential oils extracted from the sweet pea can be used in perfume blends.

Colour Plates Ageratum