Patent Application
20160295788
Bidens ferulifolia
‘SUNBIDEVB 4’
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Bidens plant, botanically known as Bidens ferulifolia and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Sunbidevb 4’.
The new Bidens plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Fukaya, Saitama, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Bidens plants with year-round flowering habit and numerous attractive inflorescences.
The new Bidens plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Fukaya, Saitama, Japan in December, 2008 of two unnamed proprietary selections of Bidens ferulifolia, not patented. The new Bidens plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Fukaya, Saitama, Japan in July, 2011.
Asexual reproduction of the new Bidens plant by vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in Fukaya, Saitama, Japan since July, 2011 has shown that the unique features of this new Bidens plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the new Bidens have not been observed under all possible combinations of environmental conditions and cultural practices. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of ‘Sunbidevb 4’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Sunbidevb 4’ as a new and distinct Bidens plant:
1. Upright and mounding plant habit.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Freely branching habit.
4. Freely flowering habit.
5. Year-round flowering habit.
6. During the summer, inflorescences have orange yellow and orange red-colored ray florets; during the spring and autumn, inflorescences have yellow and bright orange red-colored ray florets; and during the winter, inflorescences have yellow and reddish brown-colored ray florets.
7. Good garden performance.
Plants of the new Bidens differ primarily from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Inflorescences of plants of the new Bidens have more ray florets than inflorescences of plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Bidens and the female parent selection differ in ray floret color as plants of the female parent selection have bright yellow-colored ray florets.
Plants of the new Bidens differ primarily from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Bidens are broader than plants of the male parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Bidens flower freely year-round whereas plants of the male parent selection do not flower freely during the summer.
3. Plants of the new Bidens and the male parent selection differ in ray floret color as plants of the male parent selection have yellow-colored ray florets.
Plants of the new Bidens can be compared to plants of Bidens ferulifolia ‘Danyel9’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,968. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan, plants of the new Bidens differed from plants of ‘Danyel9’ in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Bidens were more vigorous than plants of ‘Danyel9’.
2. Plants of the new Bidens were larger than plants of ‘Danyel9’.
3. Plants of the new Bidens had smaller leaves than plants of ‘Danyel9’.
4. Plants of the new Bidens flowered freely year-round whereas plants of ‘Danyel9’ did not flower freely during the summer.
5. Plants of the new Bidens and ‘Danyel9’ differed in ray floret color as plants of ‘Danyel9’ had yellow-colored ray florets.
6. Plants of the new Bidens did not produce seeds whereas plants of ‘Danyel9’ produced seeds.
The accompanying photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Bidens plant showing the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photographs may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description which accurately describe the colors of the new Bidens plant. The photograph at the top of the sheet comprises a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Sunbidevb 4’ grown in a container. The photograph at the bottom of the sheet is a close-up view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Sunbidevb 4’.
The aforementioned photographs and following observations and measurements describe plants grown in 18-cm containers during the summer in an outdoor nursery in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan and under cultural practices typical of commercial Bidens production. During the production of the plants, day temperatures ranged from 20° C. to 30° C. and night temperatures ranged from 10° C. to 20° C. Plants were four and three months old when the photographs and description, respectively, were taken. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 2007 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.
