PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON IRIS

Abstract

The large expansion of flowering ornamental plants m Egypt .could actually develop to be a major export commodity, especially throughout the winter. But, this would reqUire substantial methods of the present local practices for the production. Iris, IS a genus belongs to the family Iridaceae. Iris flowers are remarkable for their structure, and blending of showy colors which recommended them strongly to horticulture since early times. Moreover, their beauty flowers are very popular for local use, and they are also demanded for exportation. The short blooming season of iris which may not exceed three weeks (from late February until the beginning of March) which consider the main important problem of the production of iris flowers in Egypt. For this reason many researches were carried to majority of this problem on some iris cultivars aiming to laid out producing early iris flowers at the beginning of winter. The responses of plants to growth regulators become a subject of extensive studies in recent years. Moreover, many author demonstrated that iris flowering can easily be forced by different growth regulators treatments. Gibberellic acid is from the most impmiant growth regulators, which is usually used as growth promoter. Gibberellins are very active group of growth regulators, influencing many aspects of plant growth and development. They promote stem elongation and replace the