Plants – Herbaceous ornamnental flowering plant
Plant Patent
1998-12-02
2002-11-26
Campell, Bruce R. (Department: 1661)
Plants
Herbaceous ornamnental flowering plant
Plant Patent
active
PP013276
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present invention is hereby cross-referenced to the three related claimed inventions entitled Heuchera ‘Canyon Belle’ (Ser. No. 09/203,862), Heuchera ‘Canyon Duet’ (Ser. No. 09/203,861), and Heuchera ‘Canyon Chimes’ (Ser. No. 09/203,864) which all four together resulted from the same breeding program as herein described.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This new cultivar Heuchera is the result of a long-term, controlled breeding program that was conducted by Dara Emery, Plant Breeder at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG), from the early 1980s until his death in 1992. ‘Canyon Melody’ is a hybrid of female or seed parent Heuchera ‘Canyon Pink’ (unpatented) and the male or pollen parent
Heuchera elegans
(unpatented).
The objective of this breeding program was to select for compact, floriferous forms of Heuchera that were more diminutive than other forms in the nursery trade. Plants that exhibited an overall dwarf stature of low growing, mounding foliage and flowers that are similarly proportioned were selected from the various crosses made. At least one of the parents had to be a native California species, in keeping with the overall mission of SBBG's breeding program to develop garden-worthy plants from the state's native flora. In this case,
H. elegans
is the California native; it has white-pink flowers and was used for its compact size. Heuchera ‘Canyon Pink’ is an earlier selection bred by Mr. Emery that is an F1 hybrid of
Heuchera elegans
and a hybrid form of
Heuchera sanguinea
, the latter being an Arizonan species that is much larger in habit and used for its red flowers. ‘Canyon Pink’ had proven itself to be an outstanding cultivar, and the breeder wanted to continue using it in subsequent crosses.
The closest comparison plants are the female or seed parent Heuchera ‘Canyon Pink’ and the male or pollen parent
Heuchera elegans
. ‘Canyon Melody’ is distinguishable from ‘Canyon Pink’ by its more compact habit, smaller foliage and shorter flower stalks. ‘Canyon Melody’ is distinguishable from
Heuchera elegans
by its medium pink calyx color.
The cultivar was first and subsequently asexually reproduced by the inventor at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara, Calif. by vegetative cuttings. Tip cuttings 2 to 3 inches long were put in flats of medium grade perlite and placed in a lath house mist bed with bottom heat and intermittent mist of de-ionized water. All plants so obtained exhibited identical characteristics, which were true to the original plant.
A closely related cultivar is the variety Heuchera ‘Canyon Pink’ (unpatented), which was selected by the inventor at an earlier stage in the breeding program and introduced to commerce. It is referred to and described herein as a comparison variety but is not the subject of any claim.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The features that together distinguish this cultivar from other Heuchera cultivars are as follows:
1. Compact habit.
2. The flowers with medium pink calyces and exerted white petals.
Emery Dara E.
Lane Michael R.
Schneider Edward L.
Campell Bruce R.
Lane Michael R.
Para Annette H.
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