• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.298-301
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• 2015

A new Hibiscus syriacus variety, 'Dasom', was developed by radiation breeding using gamma ray exposure at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Seeds of the original variety, 'Hongsun', were collected in 1993. These seeds were irradiated at 100 Gy dose and $M_1$ seeds were planted in a field of the KAERI in 1994. Lines with preferred flower color that were going to be used for street trees were initially selected in 1998. Analyses of characteristics were conducted from 2005 to 2010. The 5-year-old 'Dasom' plants were approximately 106 cm in height and averaged 19 branches, and thus were suitable for street trees. The flowers of 'Dasom' were semi-double type with medium red color and red eye spots. Petal length and width were about 4.0 cm and 3.3 cm, respectively. Flower diameter was slightly small, at about 5.8 cm, because of highly overlapping petals. The flowering period of 'Dasom' was about 105 days, which was 6 days shorter than that of the original variety, 'Hongsun'. However, the main charactersistics of 'Dasom' including leaf shape were similar to those of the original variety, 'Hongsun'.