Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVI, Issue 1
Written by Zsolt SZEKELY-VARGA, Artúr-Botond CSORBA, Katalin MOLNÁR, Martin IAKAB, Béla BIRÓ-JANKA, Endre KENTELKY
Cacti are one of the most interesting group of plants, because of their unique and special way of life. Due to their impressive beauty of their flowers and spines, are used nowadays as potted plants in different areas beside their native habitat. Moreover, for this reason growers are testing their amelioration to frost endurance. Frost resistant at is a complex physiological trait with a genetic basis. For the present study we have selected ten cacti species as followed: Cylindropuntia imbricata, Cylindropuntia whipplei, Opuntia basilaris, Opuntia fragilis, Opuntia polyacantha, Opuntia rutila, Echinocereus coccineus, Echinocereus reichenbachii var. baileyi, Escobaria leei and Escobaria vivipara var. radiosa on which we have analysed the damages caused by frost and winter injuries. The selected cacti species were subjected to two experimental conditions, first, when plants were covered and second, when remained uncovered. Results indicated that frost hardiness of some species was greatly influenced by the coverage, while at other no differences were observed. In conclusion, the present work strengthens the possibility of using some of the cacti species in the Romanian landscape design.
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