Sakata develops world’s first pollen-free lisianthus

“Sakata Seed Corporation has taken Lisianthus breeding to a new stage, with the development of the world’s first Lisianthus type that does not produce pollen”, states the Japanese breeder in a press release. “With no stamen to produce pollen Sakata’s revolutionary new Lisianthus varieties have excellent flower durability and the benefit of no scattered pollen that can cause staining of flowers, machines and home décor.”
Sakata memorizes that the pollen-free flower type is common among cut flowers such as sunflower. With the development of this new technology (Patent Pending), the breeder foresees an even greater expansion of the popularity of Lisianthus in the future.
Two major benefits
There are according to Sakata two major benefits to pollen free Lisianthus cut flower. The first one is that during transportation shaking will not cause pollen to scatter, thus the petals stay clean and are not smeared with pollen. Secondly, the absence of pollination can mean an ever longer vase life for the flowers. “About 7 days longer than conventional Lisianthus varieties”, claims the breeder referring to studies carried out by Sakata and other companies.
Test marketing in Japan fall 2017
Initially, Sakata has developed three varieties: single-flowered White, single-flowered Blue Picotee, and single-flowered Pink Picotee. Seed sales of these three varieties is scheduled for test marketing in Japan is the fall of 2017. Research of a double-flowered type should also be underway.


 

 

 
The key features of the new Lisianthus varieties are summarized as follows:
• Pollen Free　
• Prolonged Flowering　
• Patented Flower Breeding Technology
The company created a logo for the new series by using the combination of the ‘P’ and ‘F’ initials from the above three words. It will be used for the pollen-free type of Lisianthus, which the company is going to sell in the future.