FORMATION AND STUDY оF FREESIA COLLECTION FOR BREEDING USE

Freesia is one of the most popular flower crops with winter and early spring flowering terms. As a result of the active breeding work carried out in the floricultural farms of Europe and USA, by the end of 1960s, there were more than 230 freesia cultivars numbered in the International Register. Over the past 20 years, 101 freesia cultivars have been registered in the database of the Royal General Bulb Growers’ Association. The State Commission of the Russian Federation for Testing and Protection of Breeding Achievements (Gossortcommission) had included 4 domestic freesia cultivars in the Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation until 2000, and over the past 20 years – 31 cultivars; growing these cultivars is possible throughout the Russian Federation in greenhouse conditions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the history of freesia collection formation on the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory at FRC SSC of RAS, as well as its composition, development and use of available samples in the breeding process from 1963 to 2021. In 1990, the collection included 52 introduced cultivars (14 cultivars bred by the USA, 21 – by Germany, and 17 – by Netherlands). Currently, freesia collection is being studied and maintained, which includes 49 cultivars (6 cultivars bred by Netherlands, 4 – by the USA, 4 – by Germany and 35 are from domestic breeding), one Sinyaya rosa, 113 hybrid forms and 34 combinations of hybrid seedlings. When studying freesia samples collected by the FRC SSC of RAS, it has been revealed that in the humid subtropics of Sochi, they show their resistance to varying degrees and are affected by viral and fungal diseases. Over the past 10 years, 26 initial parental forms were most often used in breeding work to create new forms, including: 9 introducers and 17 domestic cultivars.