This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR) have bred new "tropical" pincushion protea (Leucospermum) hybrids that bloom near sea level, reducing local reliance on imported flowers. "These new genetic combinations allow growers at all elevations to harvest flowers nearly year-round.
They also make colorful contributions to urban, commercial and resort landscapes," said CTAHR professor Kenneth Leonhardt of the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences. Pincushion proteas are native to South Africa and need cool night temperatures to grow their flower buds. Hawaiʻi's commercial protea production was limited to elevations between 2,500 and 4,000 feet (760 and 1,220 meters), primarily in Upcountry Maui and on Hawaiʻi Island's high-elevation areas.
This kind of agricultural land is scarce and expensive, pricing many local cut-flower growers out of the protea market. Led by Leonhardt, the research team conducted years of warm-temperature tolerance trials, as well as trials at low elevations such as Two Bee's Protea Farm on Oʻahu's North Shore. He identified three seldom-used species as key sources of heat resistance and used that insight in a successful, years-long breeding program.
These new varieties of protea have several traits: The college and its partners have distributed over 11,000 of the newly bred plants to 33 Big Island farms. Most of these distributions have been in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Tropical Flower Council through its Import Replacement Program, funded by a grant from the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. Leonhardt and his team are also working with producers of container landscape plants to establish the new tropical proteas in home gardens and commercial and resort landscapes.
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