Morphological Characterization of Ornamental Sunflower Based on DUS Descriptors

Abstract

Ornamental sunflower cultivars require clear morphological description for cultivar identification and distinctness, uniformity, and stability assessment. This study characterised Helianthus annuus L. cv. Vincent’s 2 Choice during 2024–25 and 2025–26 at the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture and Research Station, Mahatma Gandhi University of Horticulture and Forestry, Durg, Chhattisgarh, India. Thirty-one morphological traits were evaluated using DUS descriptors. The cultivar exhibited medium hypocotyl anthocyanin pigmentation and early flowering, with 50% flowering occurring before 60 days. Vegetative characters included small, cordate, light-green leaves, erect leaf orientation, medium serration, and stem pigmentation. Floral observations showed few yellow ovate ray florets, yellow disc florets and pollen, elongated bracts, and absence of anthocyanin pigmentation in the disc-floret stigma and bracts. At maturity, the plants were very short and branched overall, with small, inclined flower heads having a convex grain-side profile. Seeds were short and elongated, with a 100-seed weight of 4.6 g and a grey striped seed coat. The combined vegetative, floral, plant-architecture, and seed descriptors provided a morphological profile of Vincent’s 2 Choice under the agro-climatic conditions of Chhattisgarh. Evaluation across two consecutive seasons supported assessment of the observed descriptor states within the study environment. The resulting DUS-based description may assist cultivar identification, germplasm documentation, breeding use, conservation, and varietal registration.