|
Caladiums have been in
cultivation in Europe since the late 1700’s. Louis van Houtte and Alfred Bleu
of France pioneered caladium breeding in the early 1860’s. Adolph Lietz of
Brazil and C.J. Bause and Richard Hoffman of England advanced caladium breeding
in the 1880’s. Adolph Lietz displayed many of his 400 plus varieties at the
Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, which aroused tremendous interest from the general
public and horticulturists in the U.S. At the beginning of the 20th
century, Henry Nehrling and Theodore Mead, two of Florida’s pioneering
horticulturists, began caladium breeding in the U.S. Henry Nehrling once had
over 2000 varieties and some are still in commercial propagation today.
Meade’s efforts were focused on new lance-leaved varieties. After Meade’s
death, caladium breeding went into a decline until Frank Joyner started a
backyard breeding project which ended in the late 1950’s.
In 1976, the University of
Florida/IFAS initiated a caladium breeding program at its Gulf Coast Research
and Education Center in Bradenton, Florida. Since then, this program has been
the only major organized breeding effort in the world. The breeding program was
directed by Dr. Gary Wilfret from 1977 to 1999, and by Drs. Brent Harbaugh and
Baldwin Miranda from 2000 to 2002. Since late 2002, Drs. Zhanao Deng and Brent
Harbaugh have been directing the breeding program.
Our program has released 13
cultivars so far, and we are testing many new
selections with improved or novel characteristics for future release.
Currently, our primary breeding objectives are to develop new varieties with
better leaf colors, resistance to diseases and nematodes, and tolerance to cold.
Come back and check this site for
new caladium plants.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Henry Nehrling |
Caladium in tissue culture |
Caladium seeds |
Caladium male flowers |
|
