ACTA BIOLOGICA CRACOVIENSIA Series Botanica 47/2: 129-135, 2005

Variability of Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger L.) Populations 
and Its Potential Use in Genetic Breeding

Andrej Šušek1,2+*, Anton Ivančič1, Marie-Claude Lemoine2, Jean Philippe Guillemin3, Jacques Caneill3, Metka Šiško1, and Franc Janžekovič4, 
And Lidija Praprotnik1

1Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maribor, Vrbanska 30, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia 
2INRA/Agri Obtentions Unité mixte de Prédévelopement in vitro, INRA, 
17 rue Sully, B. P. 86510, 21065 Dijon Cedex, France
3ENESAD, UMR BGA ENESAD/INRA/University of Burgundy, BGA, 
26 Bd Docteur Petitjean, BP 87999, 21000 Dijon, France
4Department of Biology, University of Maribor, 
Koroška 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia 

+Present address: University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture, Vrbanska 30, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia. 
*e-mail: andrej.susek@uni-mb.si

Received December 30, 2004; revision accepted  July 25, 2005

The Christmas rose (Helleborus niger L.) is widely distributed in Southern and Central Europe, and Slovenia is probably one of the centers of its diversity. The investigation was aimed at evaluating phenotypic diversity among selected wild populations in Slovenia and neighboring Croatia. Some of the analyzed traits expressed relatively very high variation (e.g., number of leaves per plant, number of inflorescences per plant). The variation ranges of some of the analyzed traits were found to be wider than those mentioned in the literature. Statistical analysis indicated that variability was more expressed within than between populations. In terms of present market requirements, the most valuable populations are Žumberak (Croatia), containing plant materials with the longest peduncles and largest flowers, and Peca, containing genotypes with the highest number of inflorescences per plant.

Key words: Helleborus niger, Christmas rose, geographical distribution, phenotypic variation, population diversity.