Mussaenda Ermerlinda R. Roman : A New Mussaenda Variety Is Born!
In celebration of the University of the Philippines’ centennial, UPLB’s Institute of Plant Breeding releases a new mussaenda variety, named after the first UP woman president.
Ornamental expert Dr. Monina Siar excitedly leads us to a small garden lot right in the heart of the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) inside the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB) campus. “Come,” she giddily guides us. “We want you to be one of the first to see the latest mussaenda variety. From a long line of red, pink and white ornamental shrubs so named after prominent Filipino First Ladies and women of distinction, a white mussaenda, resembling a bouquet of flowers with bell-upright bearing stands regally. “This is mussaenda Emerlinda R. Roman,” Dr. Siar introduces the plant to us, like she would introduce a friend. It’s very dainty and cute.”
Dr. Emerlinda R. Roman, as everyone knows, is the 1911 president of the University of the Philippines (UP)-the first woman who was elected to lead the country’s premier university. The 53-year-old UP president obtained her Bachelor of Science degree at UPLB in 1972, after which she obtained her Masters of Agribusiness Management at UP Diliman in 1977, where in 1989, she also got her Doctor of Business Administration degree. Human behavior in organizations and general management are her fields of expertise. The new mussaenda variety, which was developed by university researcher Dr. Siar, was named in honor of Dr. Roman.
Dr Emerlinda R. Roman, the 19th president of the University of the Philippines, is the first woman elected to lead the country’s premier university.
Mussaenda Emerlinda Roman resembles a bouquet of flowers with bell-upright bearing.
“I started breeding this in 2001,” Dr. Siar recalls. Our funding came from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR). Through the years, we were able to come up with around 513 hybrids, and from there, we evaluated each of them.” Last year, the hardworking scientist was able to shortlist 10 out-standing hybrids whose pictures she presented to Dr. Roman when they met in a state function in honor of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. “I showed her the pictures and asked her to choose which ones she liked. At first she chose the red variety, but later on, she changed her mind and decided to choose the white one. I was happy because that variety was really the one I wanted for her.”
Mussaenda Emerlinda R. Roman came from the progenies of an open-pollinated Mussaenda Dona Esperanza, named in 1962 after the wife of former president Sergio Osmena, Sr. The new cultivar is a naturally seed-setting shrub of about 1.8 m in height, with leaves that are broadly ovate. Its calyx lobes are all petaloid. It has one larger bract with many small unexpected bracts in a cluster, which is similar to a bouquet. According to Dr. Siar, this new mussaenda variety has a nice blooming habit, isn’t easily susceptible to white flies and takes weeks before the flowers’ color start to fade. “Yung isang bunch, hitik na hitik yung flowers niya,” she intones.
On September 14, 2007, the technical working group on ornamentals of the national seed industry council approved the application of Dr. Siar for the release of Mussaenda Emerlina R. Roman. Fifty rooted cuttings were already available at UPLB’s IPB and as of press time, more rooted cuttings are being propagated. Next year, in time for the centennial celebration of the founding of UP, plans are now underway for the formal launching of this new mussaenda cultivar. UP’s seven constituent universities located in over 10 campuses all over the country are also expected to plant and promote this lovely white mussaenda.
“Normally, mussaendas are really named after Philippine First Ladies,” explains Dr. Siar, “But since our first woman UP president is not a first lady but a woman of distinction, we chose the botanical/hybrid name Mussaenda Emerlinda R. Roman in honor of her. As you can see the ornamental shrub, it’s very regal-very apt for her. The flowers of the other varieties tend to droop when they are in full bloom but this one still stands erect. It seems to be saying: taas noo ako. U.P. ako!”
