USPP15422P2 - Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Kepa’ - Google Patents

Abstract

A Chrysanthemum plant named 'Kepa' characterized by its medium sized blooms with purple ray florets and prolific branching; natural season flower date September 8-13; blooming for a period of 5 weeks.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

‘Kepa’ 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 September 8-13; blooming for a period of 5 weeks. The new plant of the present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant ‘Kepa’ 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 flowering plant by Mark Roland Boeder on a cultivated field in Rijsenhout Holland in September 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 September 8-13 (week 37). The average height of the plant was 35 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 purple ray florets blooming for a period of 5 weeks.

From the cultivars known to inventor the most similar existing cultivar in comparison to ‘Kepa’ is ‘Venus’ (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/316,939). When ‘Venus’ and ‘Kepa’ are being compared the following differences are noticed: The differences of ‘Vensu’ and ‘Kepa’ are (1) Number of ray florets. ‘Venus’ has a smaller number of ray florets than ‘Kepa’. (2) Longitudinal axis of majority of ray florets. This axis is in ‘Venus’ reflexing and in ‘Kepa’ straight.

The following is a description of the plant and characteristics that distinguish ‘Kepa’ 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 ‘Kepa’

Bud
Size	Small; cross-section 1 cm, height 0.6 cm
Outside Color	Yellow-green 145C
Involucral bracts	2 rows, length 7 mm, width 3 mm
Involucral bracts among	Not present
disc-florets
Involucral bracts color	Green 138B
Bloom
Type	Decorative
Size	Medium
Fully Expanded	5 cm
Peduncle length	8 cm
Peduncle color	Green 13B
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 Red-purple 72A
	Mature Yellow 13A
Color of upper surface of	Red-purple 58A
the ray-florets
Color of the lower surface	Red-purple 70A
of the ray-florets
Tonality from Distance	A garden mum with purple flowers
Color of the upper side of	Red-purple 58C
the ray florets after aging
of the plant
Ray florets
Texture	Upper and under side smooth
Number	160-180
Cross-section	Flat
Longitudinal axis of	Straight
majority
Length of corolla tube	1 cm
Ray-floret margin	Entire
Ray-floret length	2.1 cm
Ray-floret width	0.8 cm
Ratio length/width	Medium
Shape of tip	Rounded
Disc florets
Disc diameter	0.2 cm
Distribution of disc florets	Few, only visible in mature bloom
Shape	Tubular
Color	Yellow-green 145C
Receptacle shape	Domed raised
Reproductive Organs
Stamen	Present only in disc florets
Stamen color	Yellow-green 144A
Pollen	Produced in small quantity
Pollen color	Yellow 7A
Styles	Thin
Style color	Yellow 13A
Style Length	3 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	35 cm
Width	38 cm
Stem Color	Yellow-green 147C
Stem Strength	Strong
Stem Brittleness	Not brittle
Stem Anthocyanin	Absent
Coloration
Intermode length	2.5 cm
Length of lateral branch	From top to bottom 16 cm
Lateral branch color	Yellow-green 147C
Lateral branch, attachment	Strong
Branching (average number	Good with 6-7 breaks after pinching
of lateral branches)
Natural season blooming	September 8-13
date
Foliage
Leaf color	Upper side Green 139B
	Under side Green 139C
Color midvein	Upper side Yellow-green 147D
	Under side Yellow-green 148D
Size	Medium; length 5 cm, width 3 cm
Quantity (number per	20-25
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	Obtuse
Apex	Mucronate
Petiole length	0.8 cm
Petiole color	Yellow-green 147D

TABLE 2
Differences with the comparison varieties

	‘Kepa’	‘Venus’

	Number of ray florets	160-180	140-150
	Longitudinal axis of majority of ray	Straight	Reflexing
	florets

Claims (1)

I claim:

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

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