Color categories of H x hybridus

[Joseph]

I would like to broadly categorize, based on personal experience, 'flower' color in acaulescent hybrid hellebores. These categories are perhaps unique in that they incorporate the variability brought on by environmental variations into the color-code scheme. They are thus all 'ranges', as there is no Helleborus x hybridus plant on earth that will exhibit the same, or even similar, sepal color characteristics in widely divergent environments. All comments refer to the base color of the sepals. Patterns, such as spots, blotches, picotee markings, etc are viewed as a separate category and not included in this brief analysis.

There are two broad categories: 1) sepals that do not show anthocyanin expression and 2) sepals that do show anthocyanin expression.

In the first category, I include the following:

1a. White to cream
1b. White to green
1c. White to yellow

** I use all of these in my hybridizing program

In the second category, I recognize three broad groups:

2. Weak anthocyanin expression
3. Moderate anthocyanin expression
4. Strong anthocyanin expression

I then divide these groups into subgroups:

2a. White to pink
2b. White to apricot
2c. White to mauve

** I do not use 2c in my hybridizing program

3a. Pink to magenta
3b. Mauve to purple
3c. Mauve to violet

** I generally use none of these in my hybridizing program

4a. Red to ruby red
4b. Red to purple
4c. Red to violet
4d. Purple to violet
4e. Purple to dark
4f. Violet to dark
4g. Brown to dark

**I am comfortable using any of these in my hybridizing program; however, dark flowers are often unstable/not reproducible across environments

Of course there are things missing here, such as 'slate' and whatnot. And there is the question of what a color signifier, such as 'mauve' signifies. But this concern is very minor. What I'm concerned with here is not universal acceptance of color terms (which is impossible and pointless) but segregating plants into comprehensible color schemes. There are of course plants that are intermediate (e.g. yellow-green), but the ranges are generally reliable. Hybrid hellebores, even when they look good at their peak, often end up muddy (e.g. mauve + photosynthesis=ugly color), so it is best to concentrate on extreme color forms. In short, a 'white' plant can be 'apricot' and a 'red' plant can be 'mauve'. It depends on the state of bloom and the environmental conditions the plant experienced. If we view sepal color as having a range rather than an ideal representative color state, then we will be able to create better plants. Single flowers must be observed for days or weeks to determine the real color group to which they belong.

[bruce03451]

Originally Posted by Joseph **I am comfortable using any of these in my hybridizing program; however, dark flowers are often unstable/not reproducible across environments

???? could you explain
are these in specific groups for their genetics?

i get very queasy in the discussion of hellebore sepal color reds violet purples black violets blue creams white greens yellow yellows green browns dirty violet and then we have that fluorescents and now everythings running together, getting all muddy!

Joseph are your hellebores in bloom?

[Joseph]

Hi Bruce, a few hellebores are beginning to bloom; there are many in bud. Some have been in bud for months, and so this is potentially going to be a bad year for seed production on certain plants (of course it's usually the case in TN); I expect nearly 100 percent failure on some plants due to freezing of reproductive parts. Such is life in a topsy-turvy winter climate.

These are not just in groups based on genetics (though genetics is a big part of it) but descriptive color ranges in general... basic visual, not including markings etc. To know much about the genetics of a plant takes years. I guess I should not have mentioned the other stuff. Among plants with anthocyanin expression, there are those that intensify in color as they age and those that begin to fade soon after opening. I select for the former, and I find them more often in certain color groups (e.g. white-apricot, red-violet etc).

[lubuli]

joseph, if you do crossings between two different colours, is there a colour which comes more often? that of the motherplant?

[Joseph]

Lucia, that's a good question but a very complex one. Traditional wisdom suggests using the pollen parent for color and seed parent for shape and form. But both parents can contribute characteristics in varying degrees, so only repeated controlled crosses can give you a good idea of what to expect from a particular cross. I find that working within category 1 above gives the most predictable results. When there are dark pigments of any sort, it becomes significantly more complicated.

[Joseph]

Visuals are often more powerful than words. These photos are of the same plant in different years. Understanding the environmental impact on sepal color and development is very important (in my humble opinion ). What color is this plant? I put it in the 'apricot' category by default (white to yellow + white to pink), because it has a broad range of yellow to pink and everything in between

[lubuli]

interesting!
I grow hellebores several years now. and I realized that a changement in colours comes with very different temperatures. last year we had a very cold winter, then we had one week sprintemperatures and then directly summertemperatures. there was a jump of 30°C in 14 days. so the last flowers to open were much lighter than usually. I have a pink one, which flowered creamy white to green. but some of the plants didn´t change like the very dark red one.
this probably indicates genetic inheritance.
unfortunately I have no pics.

[Jeff]

While genetics determines sepal colour, temperature and light are the variables. the difference bewteen the same plant flowering duirng summer and winter is dramatic. I find that I rarely get really dark hellebore colours even when the plants are raised from a very dark (black) seed strain.
The so called apricot colours are highly variable from year to year, this is on top of the colour dirferences that occur as the flowers of these age.