Method to the evaluation of ornamental potentiality of native and non conventional cut flowers and foliages.


To assure the success of new floricultural products in the market is necessary to determine objective criterions of choice to ornamental desirable traits. This work aims to propose and validate a method for evaluate the ornamental potential of native and no conventional plants to be used as cut flower and cut foliage. Starting from a form evaluation, specially created for this, the ornamental potential of 11 species native from Rio Grande do Sul was tested, as a sum of scores given to ten traits chose by their importance for the floral art and for the market. To validate the efficiency of the method it was done an on line opinion research. The sum of scores received by Andropogon bicornis, Baccharis articulata, B. usterii, Eryngium ebracteatum, E. eriophorum, E. sanguisorba, Hypericum connatum, Limonium brasiliense, Myrsine umbellata, Schinus lentiscifolius and S. terebinthifolius was superior to 70 points, characterizing these plants with high ornamental potential. The efficiency of choice of these species based on aesthetic traits was confirmed by the application of the form and through the validation done by internet. Results shown that the method proposed here is an efficient tool to evaluate the grade of ornamental potentiality of native and no conventional plants to be used as cut flower and cut foliage.