Plants – Herbaceous ornamnental flowering plant – Petunia
Plant Patent
2002-12-24
2004-08-24
Campell, Bruce R. (Department: 1661)
Plants
Herbaceous ornamnental flowering plant
Petunia
Plant Patent
active
PP015094
ABSTRACT:
Botanical/commercial classification: Petunia hybrida/Petunia Plant.
Varietal denomination: cv. ‘Sunbelkos’.
BACKGROUND OF THE VARIETY
The Petunia is a very popular plant that is used for flower bedding and potting in the summer season. There are only a few small-flowered Petunias, such as, ‘Suntory SP-R’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,557), ‘Sunberubu’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,754), ‘Sunbelchipi’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,355), and ‘Sunbeluki’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,558). These Petunias are of the semi-decumbent type and have a medium plant height, abundant branching, and a high resistance to heat, rain and disease. However, there are only a few varieties having a great profusion of flowers, a deep purplish-pink flower color, a very small flower size, and a high resistance to rain, heat, and disease. Accordingly, this invention is aimed at obtaining a new variety having a deep purplish-pink colored petals with a dark red center, and very small flowers combined with the above features.
The new variety of Petunia plant according to this invention originated from crossing with the Petunia variety named ‘Sunbelchipi’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,355) as the female parent and a Petunia plant variety named ‘P54’ (non-patented in the United States) as the male parent.
Initially, the crossing was conducted in May 1997 at the Omi R&D Center of SUNTORY Ltd., located at 863-1, Aza-Iketani, Omori-cho, Youkaichi-shi, Shiga-ken, Japan. From that crossing, 50 seedlings were obtained and five seedlings were selected during September 1998 in view of their semi-erect growth habit and deep purplish-pink colored petals. These five seedlings were grown and were tested during potting and bedding trials. Only one plant was selected in September 1999. The selected plant was propagated by the use of cuttings and then grown in pots in a trial in a greenhouse and in the field at the Omi R&D Center from April to November 2000. The botanical characteristics of the finally selected plant were examined using a similar variety, ‘Sunbelbipi’ variety (non-patented in the United States), for comparison. As a result, it was concluded that this new Petunia variety is distinguishable from any other variety whose existence is known to us and is uniform and stable in its characteristics. This new variety of Petunia plant was named ‘Sunbelkos’.
The new variety of the present invention can be readily distinguished from the ‘Sunbelrikupi’ variety (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/327,017, filed Dec. 24, 2002) and the ‘Sunbelre’ variety (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/327,030, filed Dec. 24, 2002) through an observation of the flower coloration. Each of these varieties had the same female parent. The new ‘Sunbelkos’ variety of the present invention forms deep purplish-pink flowers with a dark red center, the ‘Sunbelrikupi’ variety forms vivid reddish-purple flowers, and ‘Sunbelre’ variety forms deep red flowers.
In the following description, the color information is in accordance with The R.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society, London, England. A color chart based on The Japan Color Standard for Horticultural Plants (J.H.S. Color Chart) is also added for reference.
The main botanical characteristics ‘Sunbelchipi’ female parent are as follows:
Plant:
Growth habit.—
Semi-decumbent.
Plant height.—
Approximately 15-16 cm.
Spreading area of plant.—
The stem extends to a length of approximately 11-13 cm from the base.
Blooming period.—
April to late October in the southern Kanto area, Japan. The plant shape does not change throughout this period.
Stem:
Thickness.—
Approximately 2.3 mm.
Pubescence.—
Present.
Branching.—
Abundant with the superior branching propensity, especially secondary branches.
Length of internode.—
Approximately 1.4 cm.
Leaf:
Shape.—
Lanceolate.
Length.—
Approximately 5.1 cm.
Width.—
Approximately 1.6 cm.
Color.—
Dark yellow green (R.H.S. 146A, J.H.S. 3508).
Thickness.—
Approximately 0.2-0.4 mm.
Pubescence.—
Sparse.
Leaf attachment angle to stem.—
Slanted upward to horizontal.
Flower:
Facing direction.—
Horizontal.
Type.—
Single.
Shape.—
Funnel-shaped, with five fissures.
Shape of petal tip.—
Round.
Waving of petal.—
Weak.
Lobation of petal.—
Shallow.
Diameter.—
Approximately 2.8-2.9 cm.
Color.—
Petal: Vivid purplish-red (R.H.S. 57C, J.H.S. 9707). Bottom color of corolla throat: Strong yellow (R.H.S. 9A, J.H.S. 2513). Outside color of corolla tube: Light greenish-yellow (R.H.S. 5C, J.H.S. 2904).
Reproductive organs.—
1 normal pistil and 5 normal stamens.
Fertility.—
Fertile, but self-incompatible.
Peduncle.—
Approximately 0.7-0.8 mm in thickness, and approximately 1.9 cm in length.
Physiological and ecological characteristics.—
High resistance to heat, rain, drought and diseases, such as powdery mildew. The resistance to heat and rain is very strong.
Blooming.—
A bloom commonly lasts approximately 10 days on the plant. Pinching is not necessary to ensure continuous blooming; however, it does tend to enhance bloom production.
The main botanical characteristics of the ‘P54’ variety are as follows:
Plant:
Growth habit.—
Decumbent.
Plant height.—
Approximately 9 cm.
Spreading area of plant.—
The stem extends to a length of approximately 8 cm from the base.
Blooming period.—
April to late October in the southern Kanto area, Japan. The plant shape does not change throughout this period.
Stem:
Thickness.—
Approximately 2.1 mm.
Pubescence.—
Sparse.
Branching.—
Abundant with a superior branching propensity, especially secondary branches.
Length of internode.—
Approximately 0.4 cm.
Leaf:
Shape.—
Lanceolate.
Length.—
Approximately 3.2 cm.
Width.—
Approximately 1.0 cm.
Color.—
Deep yellow-green (R.H.S. 137C, J.H.S. 3706).
Thickness.—
Approximately 0.3 mm.
Pubescence.—
Sparse.
Leaf attachment angle to stem.—
Slanted upward to horizontal.
Flower:
Facing direction.—
Upward to slanted upward.
Type.—
Single.
Shape.—
Funnel-shaped, with five fissures.
Shape of petal tip.—
Round.
Waving of petal.—
Weak.
Lobation of petal.—
Shallow.
Diameter.—
Approximately 3.0 cm.
Color.—
Petal: Pale purplish-pink (R.H.S. 69C, J.H.S. 9501) ground color with strong reddish-purple (R.H.S. 70A, J.H.S. 9214) veins, light reddish-purple (R.H.S. 78C, J.H.S. 9212) center and with deep purplish-pink (R.H.S. 73A, J.H.S. 9205) streaks. Bottom color of corolla throat: Brilliant greenish-yellow (R.H.S. 5A, J.H.S. 2905). Outside color of corolla tube: Light greenish-yellow (R.H.S. 5C, J.H.S. 2904).
Reproductive organs.—
1 normal pistil and 5 normal stamens.
Fertility.—
Fertile, but self-incompatible.
Peduncle.—
Approximately 0.8 mm in thickness, and approximately 2.0 cm in length.
Physiological and ecological characteristics.—
High resistance to heat, rain, drought and diseases, such as powdery mildew. The resistance to heat and rain is very strong.
Blooming.—
A bloom commonly lasts approximately 10 days on the plant. Pinching is not necessary to ensure continuous blooming; however, it does tend to enhance bloom production.
The main botanical characteristics ‘Sunbelbipi’ variety are as follows:
Plant:
Growth habit.—
Semi-erect.
Plant height.—
Approximately 16 cm.
Spreading area of plant.—
The stem extends to a length of approximately 9 cm from the base.
Blooming period.—
April to late October in the southern Kanto area, Japan. The plant shape does not change throughout this period.
Stem:
Thickness.—
Approximately 2.2 mm.
Pubescence.—
Present.
Branching.—
Abundant with a superior branching propensity, especially secondary branches.
Length of internode.—
Approximately 1.4 cm.
Leaf:
Shape.—
Lanceolate to elliptic.
Length.—
Approximately 3.9 cm.
Width.—
Approximately 2.0 cm.
Color.—
Grayish olive-green (R.H.S. 137B, J.H.S. 3716).
Thickness.—
Approximately 0.2-0.4 cm.
Pubescence.—
Sparse.
Leaf attachment angle to stem.—
Slanted upward to horizontal.
Flower:
Facing direction.—
Horizontal.
Type.—
Single.
Shape.—
Funnel-shape, with five fissures.
Shape of petal tip.—
Round.
Waving of petal.—
Weak.
Lobation of petal.—
Shallow.
Diameter.—
Approximately 3.5 cm.
Color.—
Petal: Vivid reddish-purple (R.H.S. 65D, J.H.S. 9207). Bottom color of coro
Kizilkaya Michelle
Suntory Flowers Limited
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