USPP15421P2 - Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Stella’ - Google Patents

Abstract

A Chrysanthemum plant named 'Stella' characterized by its medium sized blooms with peach colored ray florets and prolific branching, natural season flower date August 11-16; blooming for a period of 5 weeks.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

‘Stella’ is a product of a breeding and selection program for outdoor pot mums (garden mums) which had the objective of creating new Chrysanthemum cultivars with a decorative type flower, a natural season flower date around August 11-16; blooming for a period of 5 weeks. The new plant of the present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant ‘Stella’ is a seedling resulting from the open pollination among groups of Chrysanthemum cultivars maintained under the control of the inventor for breeding purposes. The new and distinct cultivar was discovered and selected as one flower plant by Mark Roland Boeder on a cultivated field in Rijsenhout Holland in August 2001. The plant has been asexually reproduced by cuttings in greenhouses at Rijsenhout Holland. The new cultivar has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention of a new and distinct variety of Chrysanthemum is shown in the accompanying drawings, the color being as nearly true as possible with color photographs of this type.

FIG. 1 shows a plant of the cultivar in full bloom.

FIG. 2 shows the various stages of bloom and foliage of the new cultivar.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This new variety of Chrysanthemum is of the botanical classification Chrysanthemum morifolium. The observations and measurements were gathered from plants grown out door in Rijsenhout, Holland under natural day length and temperature and planted in week 23 in 2002. The natural blooming date of this crop was August 11-16 (week 33). The average height of the plants was 30 cms. No growth retardants were used. No tests were done on disease or insect resistance or susceptibility. No tests were done on cold or drought tolerance. This new variety produces medium sized blooms with peach coloured ray florets blooming for a period of 5 weeks.

From the cultivars known to inventor the most similar existing cultivar in comparison to ‘Stella’ is ‘Cefreya’ (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/316,870). When ‘Cefreya’ and ‘Stella’ are being compared the following differences are noticed. The differences of ‘Cefreya’ and ‘Stella’ are (1) Color of ray florets. Both cultivars has soft colored blooms, but the ray florets of ‘Cefreya’ are more pink colored, while those of ‘Stella’ are more orange colored. (2) Color of center of bloom ‘Cefreya’ has a pink center, and ‘Stella’ has a peach center. (3) Longitudinal axis of majority of ray florets. The axis is reflexing to twisted in ‘Cefreya’ and straight in ‘Stella’.

The following is a description of the plant and characteristics that distinguish ‘Stella’ as a new and distinct variety. The color designations are taken from the plant itself. Accordingly, any discrepancies between the color designations and the colors depicted in the photographs are due to photographic tolerances. The color chart used in this description is: The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, edition 1995.

TABLE 1
Botanical Description of cultivar ‘Stella’

Bud
Size	Small; cross-section 0.7 cm, height 0.9 cm
Outside Color	Orange 27D
Involucral bracts	2 rows, length 7 mm, width 3 mm
Involucral bracts among	Not present
disc-florets
Involucral bracts color	Green 137B
Bloom
Type	Decorative
Size	Medium
Fully Expanded	4 cm
Peduncle length	6 cm
Peduncle color	Yellow-green 148C
Number of blooms per	Approx. 10 blooms per branch
branch
Performance on the plant	5 weeks
Seeds	Produced in small quantities, ovate grey-
	brown 199A, 1½ mm in length.
Fragrance	Typical chrysanthemum, slightly
Color
Center of the flower	Immature Orange-red 31C
	Mature Orange-red 31D
Color of upper surface of	Orange 29C
the ray-florets
Color of the lower surface	Yellow 13D with streaks of Orange 29C
of the ray-florets
Tonality from Distance	A garden mum with peach colored flowers
Color of upper side of ray	Orange 29C
florets after aging of
the plant
Ray florets
Texture	Upper and under side smooth
Number	120-140
Cross-section	Flat
Longitudinal axis of	Straight
majority
Length of corolla tube	1.2 cm
Ray-floret margin	Entire
Ray-floret length	2.7 cm
Ray-floret width	0.7 cm
Ratio length/width	Medium
Shape of tip	Rounded
Disc florets
Disc diameter	0.3 cm
Distribution of disc florets	Few, present only in mature stage
Shape	Tubular
Color	Yellow-green 145C
Receptacle shape	Conical raised
Reproductive Organs
Stamen	Present in disc florets only
Stamen color	Yellow-green 144A
Pollen	Produced in small amount
Pollen color	Yellow 7A
Styles	Thick
Style color	Yellow 13A
Style Length	4 mm
Stigma color	Yellow-green 144A
Stigma Width	1 mm
Ovaries	Enclosed in calyx
Plant
Form	A garden mum outdoor mounded and round
Growth habit	Spreading
Growth rate	Intermediate
Height	30 cm
Width	40 cm
Stem Color	Yellow-green 146C
Stem Strength	Weak
Stem Brittleness	Brittle
Stem Anthocyanin	Absent
Coloration
Internode length	2 cm
Length of lateral branch	From top to bottom 15 cm
Lateral branch color	Yellow-green 146C
Lateral branch, attachment	Medium strength
Branching (average number	Good with 10 breaks after pinching
of lateral branches)
Natural season blooming	August 11-16
date
Foliage
Leaf color	Upper side Green 137A
	Under side Green 138A
Color midvein	Upper side Green 139D
	Under side Green 138D
Size	Small; length 4 cm, width 3 cm
Quantity (number per	15
lateral branch)
Shape	Cordiform
Texture upper side	Glabrous
Texture under side	Pubescent
Venation arrangement	Palmate
Shape of the margin	Serrated
Shape of Base of Sinus	Rounded
Between Lateral Lobes
Margin of Sinus Between	Diverging
Lateral Lobes
Shape of Base	Truncate
Apex	Mucronate
Petiole length	0.5 cm
Petiole color	Green 137A

TABLE 2
Differences with the comparison variety

	‘Stella’	‘Cefreya’

Color of upper side of ray florets	Orange 29C	Red 37B
Color of center of bloom	Orange-red 31D	Red 37C
Longitidunal axis of majority of	Straight	Reflexing to twisted
ray florets

Claims (1)

I claim:

1. A new and distinct variety of Chrysanthemum plant as described and illustrated.

Images