Patent Grant
PP25973
Latin name of the genus and species: Ficus elastica.
Variety denomination: ‘NAIROBI’.
The new cultivar is the product of chance discovery. The new variety originated as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation of Ficus elastica ‘Melany’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,923. Ficus ‘NAIROBI’ is the same variety described in EU application number 2009/2418, grant EU 30778. The new variety was first available publicly December 2012. Until this time, plants of the new variety were either directly under the control of the inventor, or subject to confidential testing by the CPVO during the application process.
The new variety was discovered by the inventor, Jan van Geest, a citizen of Netherlands, during Autumn of 2007 in a commercial greenhouse belonging to the inventor in s'Gravenzande, the Netherlands. After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor continued confidential testing and propagation of ‘NAIROBI’, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘NAIROBI’ was first performed at a greenhouse in s'Gravenzande, the Netherlands, by vegetative cuttings in August of 2008. Access to all plants was restricted, as plants were kept in locations that are not open to the public. Through subsequent propagation multiple generations have been reproduced, which have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.
The cultivar ‘NAIROBI’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, day length, 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 ‘NAIROBI.’ These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘NAIROBI’ as a new and distinct Ficus elastica cultivar:
Plants of the new cultivar ‘NAIROBI’ are similar to the parent, Ficus elastica ‘Melany’ in most horticultural characteristics. However the new variety, ‘NAIROBI’ differs from ‘Melany’ in the following characteristics:
Plants of the new cultivar ‘NAIROBI’ can be compared to the commercial variety Ficus elastica ‘Mini Melany’, unpatented. However the new variety, ‘NAIROBI’ differs from ‘Mini Melany’ in the following characteristics:
The accompanying photograph in
The photograph was taken using conventional techniques and although colors may appear different from actual colors due to light reflectance it is as accurate as possible by conventional photographic techniques.
In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart 2007, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. The following observations and measurements describe ‘NAIROBI’ plants grown in a greenhouse in s'Gravenzande, the Netherlands. The plant described is approximately 6 weeks old, grown in a 14 cm pot, with 3 cuttings in the pot. Temperatures ranged from 20° C. at night to 25° C. during the day. No artificial light, photoperiodic treatments were given to the plants. No chemical treatments were given to plants. Measurements and numerical values represent averages of typical plant types.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150121580 P1 | Apr 2015 | US |
