Patent Grant
PP35346
Genus and species: Coleus scutellarioides.
Cultivar denomination: ‘UF20-27-11’.
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The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coleus plant named ‘UF20-27-11’. The new cultivar ‘UF20-27-11’ originated from an open pollination conducted in May-November 2019 in Gainesville, Fla., between the female Coleus plant ‘UF19-39-10’ (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 ‘UF20-27-11’ 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. ‘UF20-27-11’ was first propagated asexually by vegetative 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 ‘UF20-27-11’ have not been applied for, and ‘UF20-27-11’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.
When compared to the female parent, ‘UF19-39-10’, the new cultivar ‘UF20-27-11’ has leaves with lobed margins that are broadly acute at the apex, whereas ‘UF19-39-10’ has leaves with crenate margins and a rounded apex. Additionally, ‘UF20-27-11’ has dark red colored leaves with prominent chartreuse (yellow green) highlights between the leaf veins and around the leaf margins in a netted pattern, whereas ‘UF19-39-10’ has predominantly chartreus-colored leaves with maroon mid-veins. ‘UF20-27-11’ is well-branched plant with excellent lateral branching and a vigorous upright and spreading habit that results in a plant growing wider than it grows tall. ‘UF19-39-10’ is just as vigorous as ‘UF20-27-11’, but it has less lateral branching with a more upright habit that results in a plant growing equally as wide as it grows tall.
The new cultivar ‘UF20-27-11’ was selected because of its vigor, vibrant leaf color, and because of its unique plant habit that fills space laterally in the garden. It performs well in both sun and shade with no change in leaf color. It can withstand the harsh selection conditions plants are subjected to in greenhouse trials and summer farm trials in central Florida. ‘UF20-27-11’ has not been observed to produce flowers in any trials. Thus, it is an exceptional plant because it maintains its foliage color patterning late into the garden season with minimal plant maintenance (late into the fall season until frost).
The new cultivar ‘UF20-27-11’ 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 ‘UF20-27-11’ when grown under normal horticultural practices in Gainesville, Fla.: ‘UF20-27-11’ has the combination of vigorous, upright and spreading growth habit, excellent heat tolerance, and consistent dark red colored leaves with chartreuse highlights between the leaf veins which is significantly different than other Coleus plants; it has superior stability in foliage color in both sun and shade conditions, maintaining leaf color under all conditions; it has excellent lateral branching, making it suitable for propagators and producers; and ‘UF20-27-11’ has been observed to have long-season performance in landscape trials in Gainesville, Fla.
This new Coleus cultivar ‘UF20-27-11’ 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 ‘UF20-27-11’ 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 ‘UF20-27-11’ is compared to the commercial cultivar ‘UF10-45-12’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,126, commercial name “Coleosaurus”), ‘UF20-27-11’ has leaves with prominent dark red coloration with some yellow green coloration along the leaf margin and veins colored purplish grey, whereas ‘UF10-45-12’ has leaves with an equal amount of yellow green and dark red coloration, with the dark red coloration being predominately along the leaf veins.
