Floral Development by Exogenous 6-Benzylaminopurine and Gibberellic Acid Application in Eremogone juncea (M. Bieb.) Fenzl

This study investigated the responses of Eremogone juncea flowering characteristics to exogenous 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and gibberellic acid3 (GA) treatments. Overwintered E. juncea plants were sprayed with seven treatments: no hormones; 200, 400, and 800 mg·L-1 BAP; and 200, 400, and 800 mg·L-1 GA. All treatments showed 100% flowering, and the exogenous BAP and GA treatments did not affect the time to flowering, whereas the hormone treatments influenced floral organ development. BAP significantly decreased the floret diameter and inflorescence length with increasing BAP concentration, although the 400 and 800 mg·L-1 BAP treatments showed similar values. BAP also caused abnormal flowers with a large gynoecium and stamens with small anthers and short filaments. However, GA significantly increased the floret diameter and inflorescence length, although 800 mg·L-1 GA treatment did not affect the floret diameter. In the vegetative parameters, the leaf length tended to increase as the GA concentration increased. These results indicate that BAP and GA affect the flowering quality of E. juncea and can enhance the value of cut flowers, such as flower size and inflorescence length, by making the flowers larger overall.