Mount Cook lily (Ranunculus lyallii )—a potential cut flower?

A. C. Evans¹

G. K. Burge²

R. P. Littlejohn³

M. H. Douglas¹

R. A. Bicknell⁴

R. E. Lill²

¹ New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Limited
Invermay Agricultural Centre
Private Bag 50 034
Mosgiel, New Zealand
² New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Limited
Food Industry Science Centre
Private Bag 11 600
Palmerston North, New Zealand³ New Zealand Institute for Agricultural and Pastoral Research Limited
Invermay Agricultural Centre
Private Bag 50 034
Mosgiel, New Zealand⁴ New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Limited
Canterbury Agricultural Science Centre
Private Bag 4704
Christchurch, New Zealand

Abstract Five experiments were undertaken to assess the potential of Ranunculus lyallii Hook. f. (Mount Cook lily) as a cut flower. Three measures of vase life were calculated, and the most useful for this species was found to be the number of days until 30% of flowers plus buds on a stem had senesced. Eleven postharvest chemical treatments (including biocides, commercial preservatives, a wetting agent, and combinations of these) were applied to scapes as pulse or vase solutions, but none significantly extended vase life. However, cool storage (at 3°C) and scape maturity at harvest both significantly influenced vase life. The vase life of scapes cool stored for 6 days averaged 2.4 days longer than the vase life of unchilled controls. Scapes harvested when the terminal bud was starting to open lasted an average of 10.2 days, a gain of 4 days compared with mature scapes harvested with a fully open or senescent terminal bud. Bud opening on scapes occurred in two distinct flushes, 3.5 days apart, and no postharvest treatment significantly affected the length of this gap. Flower quality was higher in buds opening in the first flush. R. lyallii senesced atypically for the Ranunculaceae; petal wilt rather than abscission was the initial symptom of senescence. There was no evidence that ethylene accelerated senescence, and the ethylene antagonist, silver thiosulphate, also failed to delay senescence. R. lyallii has commercial potential as a cut flower.

Keywords Mount Cook lily; Ranunculus lyallii; postharvest physiology; preservative solution

H01003 Received 1 March 2001; accepted 7 November 2001
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2002, Vol. 30 : 69–78
0014–0671/02/3001–0069 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

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