Cultivar evaluation and selection in Paeonia 伊suffruticosa Zhongyuan Group for specialized purpose to use.

Based on the investigation on morphological and ornamental characteristics of 196 cultivars in Paeonia ⅹsuffruticosa Zhongyuan Group, an analysis on the correlation degree with the standard cultivar (SC) by grey system theory was carried out to evaluate and select cultivars for three different specialized purposes, landscaping, potted-plant and cut-flower production. The results showed that, the cultivars had a correlation degree over 0.7 to SC can be selected to propagate for landscaping, and ones had a correlation degree over 0.8 to SC can be selected for potted-plants and cut-flower cultivation. According to the conclusion above, 45 cultivars out of 196 investigated ones were recommended for production application, including 42 for landscaping, 20 for potted-plants and 12 for cut-flowers. Among all the recommended ones, 7 cultivars had the priority in production because they can meet all the requirements of landscaping, potted-plant and cut-flower production simultaneously. Fifteen cultivars were suited for landscaping as well as for potted-plant or cut-flower production. Three and 20 cultivars were only suited for potted-plant and landscaping respectively. Only a quarter of the total cultivars were selected, and the rest 151 were not well suited for mass production due to their unsatisfactory evaluation results