Rose germplasm located in an outstanding italian collection: evaluation, characterization and exploitation

This paper reports the evaluation, the characterization and the exploitation of the rose germplasm located in the Roserai “Carla Fineschi” at Cavriglia (Arezzo - Central Italy) to increase its value and to promote its use. Furthermore, these very unique genetical resources can be used in the breeding work to obtain new attractive cultivars. The morpho-botanical characterization seems to be the first step to identify the most interesting aesthetic characters. For this purpose specific identification cards were filled. A detailed data-base describing more than 400 OGR accessions and referring their own characters was obtained. Using this data-base it is possible to find particular ornamental characters of the roses (noteworthy colour or shape of flowers or petals, particular foliage, unique shape of the prickles, peculiar colour of the fruits and so on). Consequently it is useful both for breeding programs and for a correct choice of the plants for garden and park design.