Inheritance of disc flower color in Helianthus petiolaris

Abstract

Disc flowers of Helianthus petiolaris (Asteraceae) are usually purple reddue to anthocyanin pigments in corolla lobes, style and stigma. However, yellow-flowered plants are occasionally found. The inheritance of this trait wasstudied through crosses between different phenotypes and the results indicatedthat flower color is controlled by two genes with complementary action,both loci being dominant and independently inherited. This agrees with resultsobtained in cultivated sunflower, H. annuus, where one to three dominantgenes have been proposed for anthocyanin expression in different organs.