Origin

The improved genotype, called Alondra, was the product of manual cross between OAX14P4*MORFRN1015-9 made in 2010, at the Zacatepec Experimental Field of the INIFAP by the procedures mentioned by ^{Canul et al. (2015)}. The resulting hybrid progeny was established in 2011. The seeds were sown in polystyrene trays with 50 cavities using as substrate Sunshine Mix 3^®. In the stage of four true leaves they were transplanted to eight inch pots with a capacity of 3.5 L with substrate based on the mixture of ocochal, atocle and coconut powder (^{Osuna et al., 2012}) in proportion 40:40:20 v/v.

In this container the phenological stage of bracts pigmentation was reached, which is the attractive, commercial and aesthetic structure. At the beginning of 2012 the hybrid plants were transplanted to a 12-inch pots in order to have more room for growth, these were used as mother plants; that is, from these the cuttings that gave rise to the next generation were obtained, in this case the propagation form of the plant was taken as advantage, which is vegetative, a condition that allows to maintain the phenotypic and genetic identity of the plant (^{Islam et al., 2013}).

In this way, in 2012 the first clonal generation of plants was cultivated in the Zacatepec Experimental Field. Given the environmental conditions of this field and the need to evaluate the material in the producer’s nursery, in the following years they were cultivated in a more favorable environment to its development.

The selected locality was Tetela del Monte (18° 58’ north latitude and 99° 15’ west longitude), located in the municipality of Cuernavaca, state of Morelos, which is considered one of the areas with the highest production of poinsettia, due to the weather conditions, water quality and the tradition of more than 50 years managing this crop. Under this consideration, Alondra was cultivated for four cycles (2013-2016) with a cooperating producer under commercial conditions. Cuttings of the plant of the previous year were cut each year. Due to the nature of vegetative propagation of the poinsettia, the characters expressed in the hybrid progeny will be stably inherited and genetically maintained in the cuttings used for the establishment of new crop cycles (^{Islam et al., 2013}).

Characteristics

The plant of the Alondra variety shows ramification with the dark green stem. The leaves have oval shape with the base in cuneiform shape, the main nerve of the bundle shows two colors green and red, the lobes are shallow, the petiole is long of intense green color in the beam. The bracts are red (code 45B on RHS color charts), elliptical, with no bending or torsion along the main nerve. The width of the top is medium with small ciatio glands, yellow without deformation. It has an intermediate cycle or response; that is, pigmentation of bracts occurs seven to nine weeks after the beginning of the fall season.

Among the evaluated characters, the analysis of variance found highly significant differences (p≤ 0.01) in plant height, leaf petiole length, bract width and ciatio diameter; significant difference (p≤ 0.05) in leaf length and bract’s petiole length; but without statistical differences in leaf width, bract length and brachial canopy amplitude. In a six-inch diameter pot with capacity of 1.61 L the plant reaches an average height of 26.02 cm statistically similar to Prestige red, it was also equal to this commercial variety in leaf length.

Alondra exceeded the control varieties in ciatio diameter and showed equal bract peciolo length than Freedom red. It showed smaller bract width but similar to Prestige red and smaller length of leaf petiole, but equal to Freedom red. In three characters such as leaf width, bract length and brachial canopy amplitude it showed the same response as the two commercial varieties (Table 1).

Table 1 Comparison of means of characters evaluated in the Alondra hybrid and two cultivated commercial varieties. 

Valores con letras diferentes dentro de hileras indican diferencias significativas (Tukey, p≤ 0.05); DMSH= diferencia mínima significativa honesta; CV= coeficiente de variación.

The description of the Alondra characteristics was based on the document guidelines for the conduct of the examination of distinctness, homogeneity and stability, poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch. The breeder title was requested before the National Seed Inspection and Certification Service (SNICS-SAGARPA) in 2016. The process still continues, in January 2017, the registration certificate with registration number CP-1498 was received from SNICS, for meeting the requirements established for the breeder’s title.

It should be noted that Alondra has germplasm of national origin, it was generated and developed in the area where the commercial production of poinsettia is carried out, therefore it is an adapted material, it does not show problems to reach the bracts pigmentation stage, which is the commercial and aesthetic interest, in the type of substrate where it was cultivated it did not show root rot in the different evaluation years. As for damages caused by common pests on poinsettia during the evaluation period, no symptoms were observed due to whitefly or other pest, the experience gained during the process is that plants with yellow or cream bracts are more attractive to the whitefly. The plant grows and develops well in places with average temperatures between 23 and 28 °C and altitudes from 900 to 2 000 m.

The propagation way is vegetative, from cuttings or through in vitro culture. It is posible to cultivate in potts with different capacities and sizes using substrate based on components of the region such as leaf soil, ocochal, tepojal, coconut powder (^{Osuna et al., 2012}), among others. The establishment period will depend on the container size, in April the cuttings are planted in larger containers and as the months of the year passes by they are transplanted into smaller pots.