Heritability and genetic correlation in daylily selection

Daylily (Hemerocallis × hybrida Hort.) is a popular ornamental plant and hybrid cultivars are frequently selected for medium size, large number of flowers per stem, and flower color diversity. However, daylily selection is limited due to the lack of information on genetic parameters and their correlation to phenotypic characteristics. This study aimed at estimating genetic parameters and genetic correlations among full sib families of 13 daylily cultivars using REML/BLUP (restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction) and to select families with high genotypic values for plant height and number of floral buds per stem. Crosses were performed among those cultivars and 24 families were obtained. In the third year, plant height, leaf length and width, stem number, number of floral buds per stem, and number of floral buds per plant were evaluated. The estimates of average heritability of families were superior to the estimates of restrict individual heritability for all characters evaluated. High heritability estimates were obtained for plant height, leaf length, leaf width, stem number, and number of floral buds per plant. Selected families showed genetic gain of 19.80% for plant height, 32.48% for stem number, and 38.64% for number of floral buds per plant.