Origin

In 2010, the manual crossbreeding between the MOR13 x MORPR10 progenitors was made. The resulting progeny (F₁) was evaluated in 2011 and the best individuals were selected following the guidelines of the poinsettia biotype established by ^{Canul et al. (2010}). In 2012, the number of individuals was increased by vegetative propagation. In 2013 grafts were made by wedge technique, hybrid clonal progeny was used as a barb and a commercial variety was the pattern. In 2014, graft cuttings were obtained, which were cultivated in the Zacatepec Experimental Field until reaching a finished plant based on the technological package for the production of poinsettia (^{Garcia et al., 2017b}), in this stage a selection of according to the determined biotype.

These plants were evaluated in 2015 in Tetela del Monte, Cuernavaca, Morelos (18° 58’ North and 99° 15’ West and 2 000 m altitude), the management was carried out according to the knowledge and experience of the cooperating producer, second generation nursery.

The cuttings obtained from the graft are those that gave rise to the Leticia variety (Table 1), which was described varietally following the criteria of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (^{UPOV, 2008}) in 2016.

In its obtaining process, the vegetative propagation of the poinsettia was used, a condition that allowed to maintain the phenotypic and genetic identity of the plant; that is, it is guaranteed that the characters expressed in the hybrid progeny will be stably inherited and maintained genetically in the cuttings used for the establishment of new cultivation cycles (^{Islam et al., 2013}).

Features

Leticia is essentially an ornamental plant whose medium-sized attributes of great amplitude and medium branching is ideal for decorating interior spaces. The intensity of the green color of the stem is also medium. It has large oval-shaped leaves with petioles of medium length, a green beam with a strong intensity, the shape of the base is rounded, with the main nerve of the beam of two colors, green and red, the lobes are shallow.

The bracts are elliptical and red in color [code 45B in color charts of the ^{Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), 2006}], do not show bending along the main nerve or twist, weak roughness between the nerves.

The top is broad with medium glands of the cyatium, yellow without deformation (^{UPOV, 2008}). Leticia is considered a variety of cycle or intermediate response; that is to say, the pigmentation of bracts appears nine weeks after the beginning of autumn (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Bract and leaf, and top view of Leticia 

In 2016, 10 plants (replications) were established in a 6” pot (1.61 L and 11 cm high) in Tetela del Monte, Cuernavaca, Morelos, from the new Leticia variety and as witnesses the Prestige^®, Sonora Red^® and Freedom^® varieties under a completely randomized experimental design. In accordance with the provisions of ^{UPOV (2008}) pruning was done and no growth regulators were applied. Vegetative and bract characters were measured. An analysis of variance and mean comparison test was applied using Tukey (p≤ 0.05) (Table 2) with the statistical analysis program SAS version 8.1 (^{SAS, 2000}).

There were highly significant differences (p≤ 0.01) in the characters: AP, DM, LPH, NR, NE, AB, LB, and LPB, in AH it was significant at 0.05 probability, and in LH and ADB there was no significant statistical effect.

The lowest coefficient of variation was for AP with 10.7% and the highest in LPB with 22.47% (Table 2), these are similar to those reported in works with this same species by ^{Canul et al. (2017b}, ^c) and ^{García et al. (2017a)}.

In AP, DT and AH, Leticia stands out. The AP (28.11 cm) meets the pot-plant ratio (1:2). DT (2.86 mm) is a substantial character to support and balance the height of the plant. AH (6.41 cm) is important from the point of view of ornamental decoration. LH (10.03) in Leticia was statistically equal to the three commercial varieties Prestige^®, Sonora Red^® and Freedom^®. LPH (4.75 cm) was longer in Prestige^®, but followed by Leticia (3.42). These characters are important, because together they are the expression of a finished plant of poinsettia with an aesthetic architecture attractive to the consumer.

The results of these evaluations based the application for breeder’s title before the National Seed Inspection and Certification Service (SNICS-SAGARPA) in May 2017 and finally in July 2018 it was granted registration number 1886 for having met the requirements established for such a distinction.

Conclusions

The new Mexican variety of indoor poinsettia, Leticia, has an intermediate shape of great amplitude with intermediate branching, large oval-shaped leaves with petioles of medium length, bracts of elliptical shape and red. It is of intermediate response; the pigmentation of bracts appears nine weeks after the beginning of autumn. Leticia represents an alternative to diversify production and could compete with foreign varieties in satisfying the tastes and preferences of consumers of this ornamental plant.