Intergeneric Hybridism between Chamelaucium and Verticordia (Myrtaceae) Based on Analysis of Essential Oils and Morphology

Abstract

‘Eric John’ is a novel variant and spontaneous hybrid that demonstrates the floral characteristics of two myrtaceous genera, Verticordia and Chamelaucium. A comparison was made between the essential oil profiles and morphological characters of ‘Eric John’, Chamelaucium ciliatum, C. floriferum, C. uncinatum, and Verticordia plumosa from the site of origin of ‘Eric John’ to identify the parentage of the novel variant and assess the potential for intergeneric crosses. Biochemically, ‘Eric John’ was strongly aligned with C. floriferum, while, morphologically, ‘Eric John’ was closely associated with V. plumosa. These data distinguished ‘Eric John’ as a possible C. floriferum V. plumosa hybrid and indicate the potential for development of novel gene combinations for horticulture. Large dissimilarities between the essential-oil profiles and morphometry of ‘Eric John’, C. ciliatum and C. uncinatum negated these latter species as parental stock.