Botanical designation: Helleborus niger X Helleborus x hybridus.
Cultivar denomination: ‘HL 1036’.
STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY INVENTOR/APPLICANT
A European Community Plant Breeder's Rights application for the instant plant was filed by the Inventor/Applicant, Mr. Josef Heuger of Glandorf, Germany, on Dec. 1, 2022, application number 2022/2765. Foreign priority is not claimed to this application.
The Inventor/Applicant asserts that no publications nor advertisements relating to sales, offers for sale or public distribution occurred more than one year prior to the effective filing date of this application. Any information about the claimed plant would have been obtained from a direct or indirect disclosure from the Inventor or Applicant. Inventor/Applicant claims a prior art exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1) for disclosure and/or sales prior to the filing date but less than one year prior to the effective filing date.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Helleborus plant, botanically known as Helleborus niger X Helleborus x hybridus and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘HL 1036’.
The new Helleborus plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Glandorf, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to create new uniform Helleborus plants with unique and attractive plant habit, leaf and flower coloration and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
The new Helleborus plant originated from a cross-pollination conducted by the Inventor in Glandorf, Germany in December 2014 of a proprietary selection of Helleborus niger identified as code number P881, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent and a proprietary selection of Helleborus x hybridus identified as code number O1489, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Helleborus plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled greenhouse environment in Glandorf, Germany in December 2016.
Asexual reproduction of the new Helleborus plant by in vitro axillary meristem culture in a controlled environment in Glandorf, Germany since April 2017 has shown that the unique features of this new Helleborus plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Plants of the new Helleborus 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 ‘HL 1036’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘HL 1036’ as a new and distinct Helleborus plant:
- 1. Upright to somewhat outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit.
- 2. Moderately vigorous to vigorous growth habit.
- 3. Dark green-colored leaflets with lighter green-colored venation.
- 4. Freely flowering habit.
- 5. Purplish red-colored flowers.
- 6. Good garden performance.
Plants of the new Helleborus differ from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:
- 1. Leaflets of plants of the new Helleborus are darker green in color than leaflets of plants of the female parent selection.
- 2. Flowers of plants of the new Helleborus are larger than flowers of plants of the female parent selection.
Plants of the new Helleborus differ from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:
- 1. Leaflets of plants of the new Helleborus are darker green in color than leaflets of plants of the male parent selection.
- 2. Flowers of plants of the new Helleborus are larger than flowers of plants of the male parent selection.
Plants of the new Helleborus can also be compared to plants of Helleborus niger ‘COSEH210’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,048. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Helleborus differ primarily from plants of ‘COSEH210’ in the following characteristics:
- 1. Leaves of plants of the new Helleborus are larger than leaves of plants of ‘COSEH210’.
- 2. Flowers of plants of the new Helleborus are larger than flowers of plants of ‘COSEH210’.
- 3. Flowers of plants of the new Helleborus are purplish red in color whereas flowers of plants of ‘COSEH210’ are white in color.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS
The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Helleborus 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 Helleborus plant.
The photograph on the first sheet (FIG. 1) is a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘HL 1036’ grown in a container.
The photograph on the second sheet (FIG. 2) is a close-up view of a typical flower of ‘HL 1036’.
DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
The aforementioned photographs and following observations, measurements and values describe plants grown during the autumn in 17-cm containers in a glass-covered greenhouse in Glandorf, Germany and under cultural practices typical of commercial Helleborus production. During the production of the plants, day temperatures ranged from 12 C to 32 C and night temperatures ranged from 5 C to 12 C. Plants were 48 weeks old when the photographs were taken and 14 months old when the description was taken. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 2015 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.
- Botanical classification: Helleborus niger X Helleborus x hybridus ‘HL 1036’.
- Parentage:
- Female, or seed, parent.—Proprietary selection of Helleborus niger identified as code number P881, not patented.
- Male, or pollen, parent.—Proprietary selection of Helleborus x hybridus identified as code number O1489, not patented.
- PROPAGATION:
- Type.—In vitro axillary meristem culture.
- Time to initiate roots, winter.—About 55 days at temperatures about 12 C.
- Time to produce a rooted young plant, winter.—About 170 days at temperatures ranging from about 4 C to 15 C.
- Root description.—Thick to thin, fleshy; typically white to brownish in color, actual color of the roots is dependent on substrate composition, water quality, fertilizer type and formulation, substrate temperature and physiological age of roots.
- Rooting habit.—Low branching; sparse.
- Plant description:
- Plant and growth habit.—Herbaceous perennial; upright to somewhat outwardly spreading and mounding plant habit with flowers held slightly above to well above the foliar plane; plant shape, flattened globular; moderately vigorous to vigorous growth habit and moderate growth rate.
- Plant height, soil level to top of foliar plane.—About 21.1 cm.
- Plant height, soil level to top of flowers.—About 35.9 cm.
- Plant diameter (area of spread).—About 43.1 cm.
- Leaf description:
- Arrangement.—Leaves arranged in a basal rosette; leaves palmately compound with typically five, or occasionally, seven, leaflets per leaf.
- Leaf length.—About 18.5 cm.
- Leaf width.—About 18.8 cm.
- Leaflet length.—About 10.9 cm.
- Leaflet width.—About 5.1 cm.
- Leaf shape.—Palmate; roughly reniform in outline.
- Leaflet shape.—Narrowly obovate to elliptic.
- Leaflet apex.—Acute.
- Leaflet base.—Attenuate.
- Leaflet margin.—Serrate; slightly and coarsely undulate.
- Leaflet texture and luster, upper and lower surfaces.—Smooth, glabrous; coriaceous and tough; slightly glossy.
- Leaflet venation pattern.—Pinnate and reticulate.
- Leaflet color.—Developing leaflets, upper surface: Close to 137B; at the base, strongly tinged with close to 187A. Developing leaflets, lower surface: Close to 146B; midvein, strongly tinged with close to 187A. Fully developed leaflets, upper surface: Close to 147A; at the base, tinged with close to N186C; venation, close to 144B. Fully developed leaflets, lower surface: Close to 147B; venation, close to 152A and 187A.
- Petioles.—Length: About 13.4 cm. Diameter: About 6 mm by 7 mm. Strength: Strong. Texture and luster, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous; slightly glossy. Color, upper surface: Close to 146C; moderately to heavily covered with fine dots, close to N186A and proximally, closer to a blend of N186A and 203A. Color, lower surface: Close to 146C; moderately to heavily covered with fine dots, close to N186A.
- Flower description:
- Flower shape and habit.—Single rotate bowl-shaped flowers arranged in panicles; freely flowering habit with about six flowers per inflorescence and about 18 flowers and flower buds per plant; flowers face mostly outwardly to slightly nodding.
- Fragrance.—None detected.
- Natural flowering season.—Plants begin flowering about ten months after planting; plants flower naturally from late autumn into the winter in Germany.
- Flower longevity on the plant.—About ten days; sepals persistent, other flower parts are not persistent.
- Flower buds.—Length: About 3.1 cm. Diameter: About 1.8 cm. Shape: Ovate. Texture and luster: Smooth, glabrous; matte. Color: Close to 150D variably tinged with close to 71A.
- Inflorescence height (including peduncle).—About 34.4 cm.
- Inflorescence diameter.—About 14.8 cm.
- Flower diameter.—About 10.2 cm.
- Flower depth.—About 3.5 cm.
- Petals.—Petals are not transformed into nectaries. Quantity and arrangement: About twelve arranged in a single whorl. Length: About 3.5 cm. Width: About 1.6 cm. Shape: Obovate to elliptic; slightly concave. Apex: Broadly and bluntly acute. Base: Attenuate. Margin: Entire; not undulate. Texture and luster, upper surface: Smooth, glabrous; slightly velvety; matte. Texture and luster, lower surface: Smooth, glabrous; matte. Color: When opening, upper surface: Close to 61A; towards and at the margins, close to 70B. When opening, lower surface: Close to 64A. Fully opened, upper surface: Close to 64A; towards and at the margins, close to N75A; venation, close to 64A; with subsequent development, color becoming closer to a blend of 183A and N186C slightly flushed with close to 146D and at margins, close to 182B. Fully opened, lower surface: Close to 70A; venation, close to 70A; with subsequent development, color becoming closer to N186C.
- Sepals.—Quantity and arrangement: About five arranged in a single whorl. Length: About 5.5 cm. Width: About 4.3 cm. Shape: Broadly ovate to broadly elliptic; slightly concave. Apex: Acute/obtuse to broadly to bluntly and abruptly acute. Base: Cuneate. Margin: Entire; slightly and coarsely undulate. Texture and luster, upper surface: Smooth, glabrous; matte. Texture and luster, lower surface: Smooth, glabrous; matte to slightly glossy. Color: When opening, upper surface: Close to 61A; towards the margins and at the margins, close to 70B. When opening, lower surface: Close to 64A. Fully opened, upper surface: Close to N77B; towards the center and base, close to 71A; venation, similar to lamina colors; color does not change with subsequent development. Fully opened, lower surface: Close to a blend of 70A, 70B and N77B; venation, close to 187B; color does not change with subsequent development.
- Flower bracts.—Quantity per flower: Typically one or two. Length: About 6.8 cm. Width: About 3.3 cm. Shape: Ovate to close to oblong. Apex: Acute to three-lobed. Base: Cuneate. Margin: Mostly entire to sparsely and shallowly serrate; slightly coarsely undulate. Color, upper surface: Close to NN137A; at the base, tinged with close to 187B. Color, lower surface: Close to a blend of 138A and 147B; midvein, close to N186C.
- Peduncles.—Length: About 21.7 cm. Diameter: About 7 mm. Aspect: About 10 degrees from vertical. Strength: Strong. Texture and luster: Smooth, glabrous; moderately glossy. Color: Close to N186C; heavily covered with fine dots, close to 146D.
- Pedicels.—Length: About 7.7 cm. Diameter: About 0.5 mm. Aspect: About 15 degrees from peduncle axis. Strength: Moderately strong. Texture and luster: Smooth, glabrous; moderately glossy. Color: Close to N186C; heavily covered with fine dots, close to 146D.
- Reproductive organs.—Stamens: Quantity per flower: About 90. Filament length: About 1.7 cm. Filament color: Close to 69A. Anther shape: Double and broadly reniform; basifixed. Anther size: About 1.5 mm by 3 mm. Anther color: Close to 154C. Pollen amount: Sparse to moderate. Pollen color: Close to 4D. Pistils: Quantity per flower: About six to eight. Pistil length: About 1.2 cm. Stigma diameter: About 0.3 mm. Stigma shape: Club-shaped. Stigma color: Close to 156A. Style length: About 1.15 cm. Style color: Close to a blend of 183A and 187A. Ovary color: Close to 154C; adaxial rib, tinged with close to 187B. Seeds and fruits: To date, seed and fruit development have not been observed on plants of the new Helleborus.
- Garden performance: Plants of the new Helleborus have been observed to have good garden performance and to tolerate rain, wind, high temperatures about 35 C and to be suitable for USDA Hardiness Zones 5 through 9.
- Pathogen & pest resistance: To date, plants of the new Helleborus have not been observed to be resistant to pathogens and pests common to Helleborus plants.
Patent Grant
PP36573
