Plants – Commercial herbaceous vegetable or herb plant
Plant Patent
1999-06-04
2002-07-09
Campell, Bruce R. (Department: 1661)
Plants
Commercial herbaceous vegetable or herb plant
Plant Patent
active
PP012761
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of garlic plant, botanically known as
Allium sativum L.
and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Melany’.
‘Melany’ is a product of a planned breeding program which had the objective of creating new garlic cultivars having early harvesting capabilities, high yield potential, regular clove arrangements, healthy plant material and seed-propagated garlic cultivation.
‘Melany’ was originated from an open pollination made in a controlled breeding program, which began in 1986 in Broek op Langedijk, the Netherlands. The parent lines were unnamed seedlings of Chinese origin. During the breeding program, several selections were made within the progeny of the open pollination.
‘Melany’ was discovered and selected as one plant growing among the group of selected plants by the inventor, Henk de Groot, in 1989 in a controlled environment in Broek op Langedijk, the Netherlands.
The first act of asexual reproduction of ‘Melany’ was accomplished by the inventor in which cloves were taken from the initial selection in August 1989 in a controlled environment in Broek op Langedjik, the Netherlands. Horticultural examination of asexually reproduced plants of ‘Melany’ in 1990 has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for ‘Melany’ are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of ‘Melany’ which in combination distinguish this garlic as a new and distinct cultivar:
1
1. Early harvesting of the plant;
1
2. High yield of bulbs;
1
3. Disease-free vegetation;
1
4. Presence of flower scape; and
1
5. Vigorous foliage that develops quicker and has more volume than comparative cultivars.
‘Melany’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new cultivar may vary significantly with variations in environment such as daylength, temperature, soil condition, humidity, fertilization and date of planting without any change in genotype of the cultivar. The following observations, measurements, and comparisons describe plants grown in Broek op Langedijk, the Netherlands under conditions that approximate those generally used in commercial practice. The age of the plants described is 9 months after planting.
Of the many commercial cultivars known to the present inventor, the most similar in comparison to ‘Melany’ is ‘Sprint’ (unpatented). In comparison to ‘Sprint’, ‘Melany’ has similar bulb and clove colors but demonstrates significant differences in the earliness of harvesting, higher yield and healthier cultivation.
The following chart represents a comparison, based on Dutch cultivation conditions, of the principle variety characteristics of ‘Melany’ and 3 main commercial varieties:
Variety
‘Thermi-
‘California
characteristics
drome’
Early’
‘Germidour’
‘Melany’
Emergence speed
slow
slow
fast
very fast,
after planting
approxi-
mately
4 to 5
weeks
Foliage Aspect
erect
erect
bending up to
leaf hanging
hanging
Foliage Color
green
green
green
light-green
RHS137 C
for both
upper and
lower leaf
surfaces
Plant Height -
60 cm
60 cm
65 cm
60 cm
normal length
of the foliage
Plant Height -
85 cm
80 cm
85 cm
100 cm
maximum length
of the foliage
Strength of the
normal
normal
normal
normal
plant
Susceptibility to
no
no
no
26 weeks
bolt
after
planting
Tendency for
very light
insensitive
insensitive
very light
branching
sensitive
sensitive
Earliness (10
6
7
8
10
is fastest variety
‘Melany’,
difference
in weeks)
Skin color of
white
white
pink/purple
pink striped
the bulb
66B
Skin color of
white
white
pink/purple
light-pink,
the cloves
RHS 68D
Yield in gram/
80
80
85
95
bulb (average of
2 years)
Yield in ratio to
100%
100%
105%
120%
‘California
Early’/
‘Thermidrome’
Average number
10 to 12
10 to 12
9 to 11
10 to 12
cloves per bulb
Clove
irregular
irregular
irregular
fairly regular
arrangement
Percentage dry
40
39
39
33
matter (average
of 3 years)
Storability
medium
medium
medium
short,
8 to 10
weeks
after
harvesting
In the above chart, susceptibility to bolt was measured by visual observations based upon the inventor's information from the Dutch trial field during the 1996/1997 and 1997/1998 production seasons. Earliness (10 is fastest variety ‘Melany’; difference in weeks) indicates that ‘Melany’ is considered to be the earliest variety whereby the standard is 10. Therefore, an earliness of 8, as in ‘Germidour’ (unpatented) for example, means that this variety is 2 weeks slower than ‘Melany’. These figures are based upon the inventor's information from the Dutch trial field during the 1996/1997 and 1997/1998 production seasons.
Also, in the above chart, ‘Carlifornia Early’ (unpatented) and ‘Thermidrome’ (unpatented) are standard cultivars in the U.S. and Europe, respectively, and can be compared with respect to yield (production weight per area). The percentages that are given for Yield in ratio to California Early/Thermidrome indicates the relative average yield increase of the new cultivar. Dry matter was measured by means of a drying apparatus in which 25 grams of garlic material per variety was dried for 72 hours at 72° C. The percentage of dry matter was then calculated using the formula: 100×weight of material after drying/weight of same material before drying. To determine an average, this test was repeated five times for each growing season 1996/1997 and 1997/1998. Storability was measured as the relative marketable yield relative to garlic bulbs after certain storage periods: 4-6-8 months.
REFERENCES:
European Community Application—MELANY (Jun. 24, 1996).
European Community Grant—MELANY (Dec. 15, 1999).
“Garlic Collection”, de Groot en Slot (Sep. 1998), The Netherlands.
GTITM UPOVROM Citation for ‘Melany’ as per QZ PBR 952891; Oct. 9, 1995.
Bell Kent L.
Campell Bruce R.
De Groot & Slot Beheer B.V.
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