Patent Grant
PP35345
Genus and species: Coleus scutellarioides.
Cultivar denomination: ‘UF20-134-1’.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FEDERAL RESEARCH SUPPORT
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The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coleus plant named ‘UF20-134-1’. The new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ originated from an open pollination conducted in May-November 2019 in Gainesville, Fla., between the female Coleus plant ‘UF18-95-5’ (unpatented) and an unknown male Coleus plant. A single seedling was chosen in May 2020 for further asexual propagation in Gainesville, Fla.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ has been reproduced asexually for over 18 months through vegetative meristem tip cuttings and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations. ‘UF20-134-1’ was first propagated asexually by meristem tip cuttings in May 2020 in Gainesville, Fla., and has remained true-to-type since that time.
Plant Breeder's Rights for the new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ have not been applied for, and ‘UF20-134-1’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.
When compared to the female parent ‘UF18-95-5’, the new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ has an upright and spreading habit allowing it to grow more horizontal than vertical and is more vigorous and well-branched than ‘UF18-95-5’. Leaves on ‘UF20-134-1’ are uniformly colored deep red across the entire plant, with chartreuse (yellow green) spots that are consistent in size and in distribution. In contrast, ‘UF18-95-5’ has similar foliage color and spotting pattern; however, ‘UF18-95-5’ is much less vigorous than ‘UF20-134-1’.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ was selected for its excellent vigor, lateral branching, uniform overall habit, and intense red colored foliage in both sun and shade. It is novel because it has uniformly distributed chartreuse spotting across all leaves. Additionally, ‘UF20-134-1’ was selected because it does not produce flowers, so leaf drop is minimized late season in the landscape. It performs well in sun and shade and has excellent vigor to withstand the harsh selection conditions our plants are subjected to in full sun trials in Gainesville, Fla.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new cultivar may vary with variations in environment and cultural practices such as temperature, light intensity, fertilization, irrigation, and application of plant growth regulators without any change in genotype.
The following are the most outstanding and distinguishing characteristics of ‘UF20-134-1’ when grown under normal horticultural practices in Gainesville, Fla.: ‘UF20-134-1’ has the combination of vigorous, compact, upright and spreading growth habit, excellent heat tolerance, and consistent deep red-colored leaves with chartreuse spots that are significantly different than other Coleus plants; it has superior stability in foliage color in both sun and shade conditions, maintaining stable color in all conditions; it has excellent lateral branching, making it suitable for propagators and producers; and ‘UF20-134-1’ has been observed to have long-season performance in landscape trials in Gainesville, Fla.
This new Coleus cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ is illustrated by the accompanying photographs, which show the plant's form and foliage. The colors shown are as true as can be reasonably obtained by conventional photographic procedures.
Foliage color was determined under full sun conditions in the middle of the day in a glass-covered greenhouse. Color references are to The R.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society of London (R.H.S.), 2007 5th Edition. Coleus leaves are rarely one solid color but encompass hues, shades and tints, and color patterns differ from one genotype to another due to varying levels of variegation. The following detailed description of ‘UF20-134-1’ was obtained using ten-week-old plants grown from unrooted cuttings in February-April 2022 in a glass-covered greenhouse in Gainesville, Fla. The plants were propagated in mist for ten days after cuttings were stuck, then grown in one-gallon pots for approximately eight and a half additional weeks.
When the new cultivar ‘UF20-134-1’ is compared to the commercial cultivar ‘UF16-90-3’ (unpatented, commercial name “Rediculous”), ‘UF20-134-1’ has leaves colored dark red with an equal distribution of yellow green spots across the entire leaf surface, whereas ‘UF16-90-3’ has leaves colored entirely dark red with no spots.
