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A greenhouse experiment was conducted to determine the relative salt tolerance of pomegranate (Punica granatum) cultivars. Twenty-two pomegranate cultivars were irrigated weekly with a saline solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 10.0 dS·m^–1 for 4 weeks and subsequently with a saline solution at an EC of 15.0 dS·m^–1 for another 3 weeks (salt treatment). Another group of uniform plants was watered with a nutrient solution without additional salts at an EC of 1.2 dS·m^–1 (control). No visual foliar salt damage (leaf burn, necrosis, or discoloration) was observed during the entire experimental period; however, salt treatment impacted pomegranate growth negatively, with a large variation among cultivars. Salt treatment reduced shoot length by 25% and dry weight (DW) by 32% on average for all cultivars. Cluster analysis classified the 22 tested pomegranate cultivars in two groups. The group consisting of ‘Arturo Ivey’, ‘DeAnda’, ‘Kazake’, ‘Russian 8’, ‘Apseronski’, ‘Purple Heart’, ‘Carolina Vernum’, ‘Chiva’, ‘Kunduzski’, ‘Larry Ceballos 1’, ‘ML’, ‘Salavatski’, ‘Spanish Sweet’, and ‘Wonderful’ was more salt tolerant than the group including ‘Al-Sirin-Nar’, ‘Kandahar’, ‘Surh-Anor’, ‘Early Wonderful’, ‘Angel Red’, ‘Ben Ivey’, ‘Utah Sweet’, and ‘Mollar’. The sodium (Na) concentration in the leaf tissue of all 22 pomegranate cultivars was less than 1 mg·g^–1 on a DW basis. All pomegranate cultivars in the salt treatment had an average leaf chloride (Cl) content of 10.03 mg·g^–1 DW—an increase of 17% from the control. These results indicate that pomegranate plants have a strong capability to exclude Na and Cl accumulation in leaf tissue. In conclusion, the pomegranate plant is very tolerant to saline water irrigation up to an EC of 15 dS·m^–1 with little foliar salt damage and a slight growth reduction. Investigation is needed to determine the effects of saline water on the fruit yield and nutritional quality of pomegranate.

Sego Supreme^TM is a designated plant breeding and introduction program at the Utah State University Botanical Center and the Center for Water Efficient Landscaping. This plant selection program introduces native and adapted plants to the arid West for aesthetic landscaping and water conservation. The plants are evaluated for characteristics such as color, flowering, ease of propagation, market demand, disease/pest resistance, and drought tolerance. However, salt tolerance has not been considered during the evaluation processes. Four Sego Supreme^TM plants [Aquilegia barnebyi (oil shale columbine), Clematis fruticosa (Mongolian gold clematis), Epilobium septentrionale (northern willowherb), and Tetraneuris acaulis var. arizonica (Arizona four-nerve daisy)] were evaluated for salt tolerance in a greenhouse. Uniform plants were irrigated weekly with a nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.25 dS·m⁻¹ as control or a saline solution at an EC of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, or 10.0 dS·m⁻¹ for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of irrigation, A. barnebyi irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 5.0 dS·m⁻¹ had slight foliar salt damage with an average visual score of 3.7 (0 = dead; 5 = excellent), and more than 50% of the plants were dead when irrigated with saline solutions at an EC of 7.5 and 10.0 dS·m⁻¹. However, C. fruticosa, E. septentrionale, and T. acaulis had no or minimal foliar salt damage with visual scores of 4.2, 4.1, and 4.3, respectively, when irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 10.0 dS·m⁻¹. As the salinity levels of treatment solutions increased, plant height, leaf area, and shoot dry weight of C. fruticosa and T. acaulis decreased linearly; plant height of A. barnebyi and E. septentrionale also declined linearly, but their leaf area and shoot dry weight decreased quadratically. Compared with the control, the shoot dry weights of A. barnebyi, C. fruticosa, E. septentrionale, and T. acaulis decreased by 71.3%, 56.3%, 69.7%, and 48.1%, respectively, when irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 10.0 dS·m⁻¹. Aquilegia barnebyi and C. fruticosa did not bloom during the experiment at all treatments. Elevated salinity reduced the number of flowers in E. septentrionale and T. acaulis. Elevated salinity also reduced the number of shoots in all four species. Among the four species, sodium (Na⁺) and chloride (Cl^–) concentration increased the most in A. barnebyi by 53 and 48 times, respectively, when irrigated with saline solution at an EC of 10.0 dS·m⁻¹. In this study, C. fruticosa and T. acaulis had minimal foliar salt damage and less reduction in shoot dry weight, indicating that they are more tolerant to salinity. Epilobium septentrionale was moderately tolerant to saline solution irrigation with less foliar damage, although it had more reduction in shoot dry weight. On the other hand, A. barnebyi was the least tolerant with severe foliar damage, more reduction in shoot dry weight, and a greater concentration of Na⁺ and Cl^–.

Shepherdia ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ (‘Torrey’ hybrid buffaloberry) is an actinorhizal plant that can fix atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) in symbiotic root nodules with Frankia. Actinorhizal plants with N₂-fixing capacity are valuable in sustainable nursery production and urban landscape use. However, whether nodule formation occurs in S. ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ and its interaction with nitrogen (N) fertilization remain largely unknown. Increased mineral N in fertilizer or nutrient solution might inhibit nodulation and lead to excessive N leaching. In this study, S. ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ plants inoculated with soils containing Frankia were irrigated with an N-free nutrient solution with or without added 2 mm ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) or with 0.0 to 8.4 g·L⁻¹ controlled-release fertilizer (CRF; 15N–3.9P–10K) to study nodulation and plant morphological and physiological responses. The performance of inoculated plants treated with various amounts of CRF was compared with uninoculated plants treated with the manufacturer’s prescribed rate. Plant growth, gas exchange parameters, and shoot N content increased quadratically or linearly along with increasing CRF application rates (all P < 0.01). No parameters increased significantly at CRF doses greater than 2.1 g·L⁻¹. Furthermore, the number of nodules per plant decreased quadratically (P = 0.0001) with increasing CRF application rates and nodule formation were completely inhibited at 2.9 g·L⁻¹ CRF or by NH₄NO₃ at 2 mm. According to our results, nodulation of S. ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ was sensitive to N in the nutrient solution or in increasing CRF levels. Furthermore, plant growth, number of shoots, leaf area, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, root dry weight, and N content of shoots of inoculated S. ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ plants treated with 2.1 g·L⁻¹ CRF were similar to those of uninoculated plants treated with the manufacturer’s prescribed rate. Our results show that S. ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ plants inoculated with soil containing Frankia need less CRF than the prescribed rate to maintain plant quality, promote nodulation for N₂ fixation, and reduce N leaching.

Earth-Kind^® is a special designation given to select rose cultivars with superior stress tolerance (heat, drought, and pest tolerance) and outstanding landscape performance. The responses of Earth-Kind^® roses to high salinity stress are unknown. A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate 18 Earth-Kind^® rose cultivars (Belinda’s Dream, Cecile Brunner, Climbing Pinkie, Ducher, Duchesse de Brabant, Else Poulsen, Georgetown Tea, La Marne, Madame Antoine Mari, Marie Daly, Monsieur Tillier, Mrs. Dudley Cross, Mutabilis, Perle d’Or, Reve d’Or, Sea Foam, Souvenir de St. Anne’s, and Spice) in College Station and 10 of the same 18 cultivars in El Paso in response to two salinity levels at electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 (control, nutrient solution) and 10.0 dS·m⁻¹ (EC 10)_. In both locations, ‘Belinda’s Dream’ and ‘Climbing Pinkie’ in EC 10 had no or little reduction in shoot growth, flower number, and leaf SPAD readings. The net photosynthetic rate (P_n), stomatal conductance (g _S), and transpiration (E) did not decrease in these two cultivars at EC 10 in El Paso. In College Station, ‘Mrs. Dudley Cross’, ‘Reve d’Or’, and ‘Sea Foam’ in EC 10 also had no or little reduction in shoot growth, flower number, and leaf SPAD readings. In both locations, ‘Cecile Brunner’ and ‘Else Poulsen’ in EC 10 had severe visual foliar salt damage, and they had the greatest reductions in shoot growth and flower number. In addition to these two cultivars, the lowest relative shoot dry weight (DW) and flower number was observed in ‘Madame Antoine Mari’, ‘Perle d’Or’, ‘Spice’, and ‘Souvenir de St. Anne’s’ in College Station. In summary, ‘Belinda’s Dream’, ‘Climbing Pinkie’, ‘ Mrs. Dudley Cross’, ‘Reve d’Or’, and ‘Sea Foam’ were the most salt-tolerant cultivars, whereas ‘Cecile Brunner’, ‘Else Poulsen’, ‘Madame Antoine Mari’, ‘Perle d’Or’, ‘Spice’, and ‘Souvenir de St. Anne’s’ were the least salt-tolerant among the cultivars investigated.

Relative salt tolerance of eight Berberis thunbergii (japanese barberry) cultivars (B. thunbergii ‘Celeste’, ‘Kasia’, ‘Maria’, ‘Mini’, and ‘Talago’; B. thunbergii var. atropurpurea ‘Concorde’, ‘Helmond Pillar’, and ‘Rose Glow’) was evaluated in a greenhouse experiment. Plants were irrigated with nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 dS·m⁻¹ (control) or saline solutions at an EC of 5.0 or 10.0 dS·m⁻¹ (EC 5 or EC 10) once a week for 8 weeks. At 4 weeks after treatment, all barberry cultivars in EC 5 had minimal foliar damage with visual scores of 4 or greater (visual score 0: dead, 5: excellent). At 8 weeks after treatment, in EC 5, ‘Helmond Pillar’, ‘Maria’, ‘Mini’, and ‘Rose Glow’ plants exhibited slight foliar salt damage with an average visual score of 3.5, whereas ‘Celeste’, ‘Concorde’, ‘Kasia’, and ‘Talago’ had minimal foliar salt damage with an averaged visual score of 4.4. However, most barberry plants in EC 10 exhibited severe foliar salt damage 4 weeks after treatment with the exception of ‘Concorde’ and were dead 8 weeks after treatment. Compared with control, at the end of the experiment (8 weeks of treatments), shoot dry weight (DW) of ‘Celeste’, ‘Helmond Pillar’, ‘Maria’, and ‘Rose Glow’ in EC 5 was reduced by 47%, 47%, 50%, and 42%, respectively, whereas shoot DW of ‘Concorde’, ‘Kasia’, ‘Mini’, and ‘Talago’ in EC 5 did not change. In EC 10, shoot DW of ‘Celeste’, ‘Concorde’, ‘Kasia’, and ‘Talago’ was reduced by 75%, 35%, 55%, and 46%, respectively. The averaged sodium (Na) concentration of all barberry cultivars in EC 5 and EC 10 was 34 and 87 times, respectively, higher than the control, whereas leaf chloride (Cl) concentration of all barberry cultivars in EC 5 and EC 10 was 14–60 and 29–106 times, respectively, higher than the control. Growth, visual quality, and performance index (PI) were all negatively correlated with leaf Na and Cl content in all cultivars, suggesting that excessive Na and Cl accumulation in the leaf tissue led to growth reduction, salt damage, and death. In summary, ‘Concorde’, ‘Kasia’, and ‘Talago’ were relatively salt tolerant; ‘Helmond Pillar’, ‘Maria’, ‘Mini’, and ‘Rose Glow’ were relatively salt sensitive; and ‘Celeste’ was in between the two groups. Generally, barberry plants had moderate salt tolerance and can be irrigated with marginal water at an EC of 5 dS·m⁻¹ or lower with slight foliar damage.

Pomegranate is a drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant crop. Its fruits contain high levels of phytochemicals that have many health benefits. Pomegranate has the potential to be an alternative crop in areas where water availability is limited, such as west Texas. However, more than 500 pomegranate varieties are estimated to exist worldwide, and little is known about which varieties are suitable for growing in the west Texas region. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the field performance of 22 pomegranate varieties, specifically based on phenology, resistance to sunburn, fruit split, fruit rot (resistance was calculated by subtracting the percent incidence by 100), yield, fruit phytochemicals, and Brix over the course of 3 years from 2016 to 2018. Cold damage, caused by below-freezing temperatures encountered from Nov. 2018 to Feb. 2019, was also evaluated in Apr. 2019. Our results showed significant varietal differences in nearly all response variables measured, indicating that varietal selection is important for pomegranate production for specific regions, such as west Texas. Leaf budding ranged from 47 to 62 days in 2016, 41 to 54 days in 2017, and 49 to 60 days in 2018. Anthesis ranged from 87 to 119 days in 2016, 80 to 94 days in 2017, and 92 to 114 days in 2018. Fruit resistance to split was broad and ranged from 7.3% to 79.1% in 2017 and from 14.2% to 99.7% in 2018. Fruit sunburn resistance ranged from 14.0% to 64.6% in 2017 and from 28.3% to 90.0% in 2018. Fruit heart rot incidence was nominal for all varieties. Total phenolic compound contents of the pomegranate fruit juice ranged from 0.81 to 1.52 mg GAE/mL, and the total antioxidant capacity ranged from 3.44 to 6.81 mg TE/mL. The yield per tree ranged from 1.00 to 7.96 kg in 2017 and from 0.81 to 10.26 kg in 2018. Brix ranged from 12.5% to 17.4% in 2017 and from 13.9% to 18.4% in 2018. Early winter below-freezing temperatures caused different degrees of cold damage; however, 5 of 22 varieties that originated from Russia did not show any cold damage. Results of a hierarchical cluster analysis based on the means of the key response variables of yield and Brix indicated that four varieties (Al-Sirin-Nar, Russian 8, Ben Ivey, and Salavatski) were notable for having both high yield and high Brix.

Marigolds (Tagetes sp.) are ornamental plants with fine-textured, dark green foliage, and yellow, orange, or bicolored flowers. The relative salt tolerance of eight marigolds [‘Discovery Orange’, ‘Discovery Yellow’, ‘Taishan Gold’, ‘Taishan Orange’, and ‘Taishan Yellow’ african marigold (Tagetes erecta); ‘Hot Pak Gold’, ‘Hot Pak Orange’, and ‘Hot Pak Yellow’ french marigold (Tagetes patula)] was evaluated in a greenhouse experiment. Plants were irrigated weekly with nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 dS·m⁻¹ (control) or saline solutions at an EC of 3.0 or 6.0 dS·m⁻¹ (EC 3 or EC 6). Marigold plants began to show foliar salt damage (leaf burn and necrosis) at 6 weeks after the initiation of treatment. At harvest (9 weeks after the initiation of treatment), ‘Discovery Orange’, ‘Discovery Yellow’, ‘Taishan Gold’, and ‘Taishan Yellow’ plants exhibited severe foliar salt damage with visual scores less than 2 (on a scale of 0 to 5, with 0 = dead and 5 = excellent with no foliar salt damage) in EC 6. In the same treatment, ‘Hot Pak Gold’ and ‘Taishan Orange’ plants all died and only one of nine ‘Hot Pak Orange’ and ‘Hot Pak Yellow’ plants survived. In EC 3, all cultivars had slight or minimal foliar salt damage with visual scores ≈4 with the exception of Taishan Gold and Taishan Orange plants that showed moderate foliar damage with a visual score of 2.3 and 2.1, respectively. Treatment EC 3 reduced the flower number of ‘Discovery Orange’, ‘Discovery Yellow’, ‘Hot Pak Gold’, and ‘Hot Pak Yellow’ by 52%, 28%, 50%, and 30%, respectively, whereas EC 6 decreased the flower number of ‘Discovery Orange’ and ‘Discovery Yellow’ by 48% and 52%, respectively. In addition, both EC 3 and EC 6 did not reduce total dry weight (DW) of any cultivars, except Hot Pak Yellow and Taishan Yellow. In conclusion, all marigold cultivars are moderately sensitive to salt. ‘Discovery Orange’, ‘Taishan Yellow’, ‘Discovery Yellow’, and ‘Taishan Gold’ were more tolerant than ‘Hot Pak Gold’, ‘Hot Pak Orange’, ‘Hot Pak Yellow’, and ‘Taishan Orange’.

Hydrangeas are popular landscape plants that are widely grown in many parts of the world. The objective of this study was to evaluate the salinity tolerance of three novel Dichroa ×hydrangea hybrids [Dichroa febrifuga ‘Yamaguchi Hardy’ × Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Hamburg’ (YH × Hamburg), Dichroa febrifuga ‘Yellow Wings’ ×Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nigra’ (YW × Nigra), and Dichroa febrifuga ‘Yellow Wings’ ×Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Oakhill’ (YW × Oakhill)]. A 52-day greenhouse study was conducted by irrigating container-grown plants with nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.1 dS·m⁻¹ (control) or saline solution at an EC of 5.0 dS·m⁻¹ (EC 5) or 10.0 dS·m⁻¹ (EC 10). At harvest, YH × Hamburg and YW × Nigra in EC 5 and EC 10 still exhibited good quality with average visual scores greater than 4.1 (0 = dead; 5 = excellent). For YW × Oakhill, moderate foliar salt damage was observed with an average visual score of 2.9 in EC 5 and 2.2 in EC 10. Compared with control, the shoot dry weight of YH × Hamburg, YW × Nigra, and YW × Oakhill in EC 5 reduced by 35%, 35%, and 55%, respectively, whereas that in EC 10 decreased by 58%, 58%, and 67%, respectively. Elevated salinity also decreased plant height, leaf area, and leaf greenness [Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) readings]; chlorophyll fluorescence (F_v/F_m); performance index (PI); and net photosynthetic rate (P_n). All these responses might result from excess accumulation of sodium (Na⁺) and chloride (Cl⁻) ions in hydrangea leaves. In this study, compared with control, leaf Na⁺ concentration of YH × Hamburg, YW × Nigra, and YW × Oakhill increased 11, 36, and 14 times, respectively, in EC 5, and 31, 53, and 18 times, respectively, in EC 10. Compared with control, leaf Cl⁻ concentration increased 4, 9, and 7 times in EC 5, and 10, 11, and 8 times in EC 10 for YH × Hamburg, YW × Nigra, and YW × Oakhill, respectively. Leaf nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K⁺), and iron (Fe³⁺) concentrations decreased at elevated salinity levels but did not cause any nutrient deficiency. In summary, the three Dichroa ×hydrangea hybrids exhibited different salinity tolerance: YH × Hamburg and YW × Nigra were more tolerant than YW × Oakhill. Salt-tolerant hydrangea hybrids should be chosen for landscape use if soil and/or irrigation water are salty.

Shepherdia ×utahensis ‘Torrey’ (hybrid buffaloberry) is an actinorhizal plant that can form symbiotic nodules with the actinobacterial genus Frankia. However, little research has been conducted to investigate the presence of Frankia in their nodules and the effects on plant growth. In this study, plants were grown in a Metro-Mix^® 820 substrate and inoculated with soils collected from Mohave County, AZ, or in a low organic-matter substrate inoculated with soils from North Logan, UT. The presence of Frankia was quantified using PolF/PolR primers to amplify their nitrogenase (nifH) gene sequences. In the Metro-Mix 820 substrate, plants irrigated with nitrogen (N)-free Hoagland’s solution at pH 6.5 formed nodules at week 12 after experiment initiation, whereas those receiving the same solution with 2 mm ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) appeared healthy, but no nodules formed. In the low organic-matter substrate, nodules formed in 5 weeks when plants were irrigated with N-free Hoagland’s solution at pH 7.5. Four 300-bp fragments of query sequences (SU1, SU2, SU3, and SU4) were obtained from nodules. When compared with nifH gene sequences reported in the literature using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), more than 90% similarity to the nifH of Frankia spp. was obtained. The Frankia strains in the nodules shared nifH sequences similar to those of the same host-specific group of Shepherdia. Furthermore, Frankia strains with similar nifH genes have been reported in nodules of Shepherdia argentea (silver buffaloberry). Additionally, Frankia strains belonging to cluster 3 infective strains consisting of Elaeagnaceae and Rhamnaceae infective Frankia showed high similarity to the query sequences. This research demonstrates that nodulation of S. ×utahensis is inhibited at 2 mm NH₄NO₃. Apart from N, nodule formation may be associated with the substrate type and pH of the nutrient solution. Based on nifH gene sequence amplification, Frankia strains in the root nodules may have the potential to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N₂). These Frankia strains have signature gene sequence characteristics of Elaeagnaceae-infective Frankia, suggesting that S. ×utahensis shares Frankia strains similar to its parents.