USPP16677P2 - Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Crete’ - Google Patents

Abstract

A chrysanthemum plant named ‘Crete’ characterized by its small sized blooms with white ray florets and good branching; natural season flower date September 13-20; blooming for a period of 4 weeks.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

‘Crete’ 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 13-20; blooming for a period of 4 weeks. The new plant of the present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant ‘Crete’ is a seedling resulting from a crossing program, which was set up by a previous breeder, and which records are unknown to the inventor. The new and distinct cultivar was discovered and selected as one flowering plant by Mark Roland Boeder on a cultivated field in Rijsenhout, The Netherlans in 2001. The first act of asexual production of ‘Crete’ was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in 2001 in a controlled environment in Rijsenhout, The Netherlans, and propagated further at this location. 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 of the new cultivar.

FIG. 3 shows the foliage of the new cultivar.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This new variety of chrysanthemum is of the botanical classification Chrysanthemum morifolium L. The observations and measurements were gathered from plants grown out door in Rijsenhout, The Netherlans under natural day length and temperature and planted week 24 in 2004. The natural blooming date of this crop was September 13-20 (week 38). The average height of the plants was 25 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 small sized blooms with white ray florets and a cream center blooming for a period of 4 weeks.

From the cultivars known to inventor the most similar existing cultivar in comparison to ‘Crete’ is ‘Unicorn’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,697). When ‘Unicorn’ and ‘Crete’ are being compared the following similarities and differences are noticed: Both varieties have small white decorative type blooms. The differences of ‘Unicorn’ and ‘Crete’ are (1). Plant vigor. The plants of ‘Unicorn’ are more vigorous than those of ‘Crete’. (2). Bloom size. The flowers of ‘Unicorn’ are larger than those of ‘Crete’.

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

Bud
Size	Small; cross-section 0.3 cm,
	height 0.2 cm
Outside Color	Yellow-green 145D
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
Height	1 cm
Size	Small
Fully Expanded	3 cm
Peduncle length	4.5 cm
Peduncle color	Greyed-green 194A-Green 138B
Number of blooms per branch	Approx. 4-5 blooms per branch
Performance on the plant	4 weeks
Seeds	Produced in small quantities,
	ovate grey-brown
	199A, 1½ mm in length.
Fragrance	Typical chrysanthemum, slightly
Color
Center of the flower	Immature Yellow 2B
	Mature Yellow 13A
Color of upper surface of the	Yellow-white 158D
ray-florets
Color of the lower surface of the	White 155D
ray-florets
Tonality from Distance	A garden mum with white flowers
	and a cream disc
Discoloration to color	White 155D
Ray florets
Texture	Upper and under side smooth
Number	180-200
Cross-section	Flat
Longitudinal axis of majority	Straight
Length of corolla tube	0.3 cm
Ray-floret margin	Entire
Ray-floret length	1.6 cm
Ray-floret width	0.3 cm
Ratio length/width	High
Shape of tip	Pointed
Disc florets
Disc diameter	0.1 cm
Distribution of disc florets	Few, only visible in mature stage
Shape	Tubular
Color	Yellow 11D
Receptacle shape	Conical raised
Reproductive Organs
Stamen	present in disc florets only
Stamen color	Yellow-green 144A
Pollen	Present
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	Grown as a spray type potmum,
	outdoor mounded and round
Growth habit	Spherical shape
Growth rate	Low
Height	25 cm
Width	36 cm
Stem Color	Grey-brown 199B
Stem Strength	Medium
Stem Brittleness	Not brittle
Stem Anthocyanin Coloration	Absent
Internode length	1.5-2 cm
Length of lateral branch	From top to bottom 10 cm
Lateral branch color	Yellow-green 147C
Lateral branch, attachment	Weak
Branching (average number of	Good with 8-10 breaks after
lateral branches)	pinching
Natural season blooming date	September 13-20
Foliage
Leaf color	Upper side Green 139A-139B
	Lower side Green 136C-139C
Color midvein	Upper side Yellow-green 147D
	Lower side Yellow-green 147D
Size	Small.; length 3 cm, width 1-3 cm
Quantity (number per lateral	15
branch)
Shape	Obovate
Texture upper side	Glabrous
Texture under side	Pubescent
Venation arrangement	Palmate
Shape of the margin	Serrated
Shape of Base of Sinus Between	Rounded
Lateral Lobes
Margin of Sinus Between Lateral	Diverging
Lobes
Shape of Base	Obtuse
Apex	Mucronulate
Petiole length	0.5 cm
Petiole color	Yellow-green 147D

TABLE 2
Differences with the comparison varieties

	‘Crete’	‘Unicorn’

	Bloom type	Decorative	Decorative
	Bloom size	3 cm	3.5-4 cm
	Color upper side	Yellow-white 158D	White 155D
	ray-florets
	Growth rate	Low	High

Claims (1)

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

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