Rhododendron 'Cotton Candy', which is a Henny and Wennekamp hybrid documented as 'Loderi Venus' x 'Marinus Koster', has been determined to be a triploid using flow cytometry by
Dr. João Loureiro, Dr. Silvia Castro, José Cerca, and Mariana Castro
Plant Ecology and Evolution Group,
Centre for Functional Ecology,
Department of Life Sciences,
Faculty of Science and Technology,
University of Coimbra, Portugal.
Rhododendron 'Cotton Candy' has been successfully used as both a seed and pollen parent by L. L. Newcomb and M. Stockman.
In the case of the triploid (39 chromosomes) 'Cotton Candy', a diploid crossed with a tetraploid produced a triploid indicating normal meiosis occurred where the diploid 'Loderi Venus' contributed a 1x gamete (13 chromosomes) and the tetraploid 'Marinus Koster' contributed a 2x gamete (26 chromosomes).
Summary of Ploidy Levels
Diploid 'Loderi Venus',
Triploid 'Cotton Candy',
Tetraploid 'Marinus Koster'
Source: Whitney Nursery
John and Sally Perkins
