Breeding Lance-leaved Caladiums

Caladiums can be grown as container or landscape plants.  Their ornamental values come primarily from their colorful and variably-shaped leaves.  Three leaf types are recognized in caladiums.  The demand for lance-leaved caladiums has been on rise, but the number of cultivars in this category has been limited. The main limiting factor has been the low tuber yield potential of many lance-leaved cultivars.  Considerable efforts have been made over the past 35 years to produce new lance-leaved caladium cultivars with higher tuber yield potential and new leaf characteristics.  ‘Florida Sweetheart’ and ‘Florida Red Ruffles’ have become important cultivars for the caladium industry.  Several new lance-leaved cultivars have been introduced in recent years.  ‘White Butterfly’ performs very well under partial shade; ‘Cherry Tart’, ‘Tricolor Butterfly’, ‘Fairytale Princess’, and ‘Red Hot’ perform superbly both under shade and in full sun.  Inheritance studies show that the lance leaf phenotype results from a heterozygous genotype of the two co-dominant alleles that controls caladium leaf types.  Further improvement of lance-leaved caladiums may rely upon the introduction of high tuber-yielding genes from fancy-leaved caladium genotypes.