Patent Application
20110191927
Hippeastrum Herb.
‘OPAL STAR’
The present invention relates to a new and distinct interspecific hybrid variety of Hippeastrum, botanically known as Hippeastrum Herb., syn. Amaryllis, of the Amaryllidaceae family, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘OPAL STAR’.
The Hippeastrum genus is native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America and the Caribbean, and includes more than 80 different species and several hundred hybrids.
The new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventors, Dorit Sandler-Ziv, Corneliu Fintea, Aurel Ion, Avner Cohen, Marina Baizerman and Ahuva Daus, in Bet Dagan, Israel. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Hippeastrum cultivar with excellent ornamental characteristics, adapted to bulb production under Israeli climatic conditions and suitable for both cut flower and pot production worldwide.
The new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ originated from a cross made by the inventors in 2000 in Bet Dagan, Israel. The female or seed parent is the unpatented, wild-type Hippeastrum papillio designated WT30. The male or pollen parent is the unpatented, interspecific Hippeastrum hybrid designated 97/4 (H. vittatum ‘WHITE’×wild-type H. cybister designated WT40). The new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ was selected by the inventors as a single flowering plant from the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in 2003 in Bet Dagan, Israel.
Asexual propagation of the new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ using the “twin-scaling” method (division of the mother bulb into about 12 vertical segments which are subsequently subdivided into 5 to 6 twin-scale units was first performed in September, 2004, in Bet Dagan, Israel. The twin-scale units are dipped for 15 minutes in 0.2% Benlet and 0.5% Marpan to prevent fungal infection, then the segments are air dried for 3 to 4 hours and placed in moist Vermiculite no. 2 (8% to 10% moisture) and incubated at 22° C. to 24° C. for 3 to 4 months. The resulting bulblets are planted in coco-peat and Tuff 0.8 (80:20%) and grown for 2 years until they flower for the first time. Of the twin scales first propagated in September, 2004, the resulting bulbs first flowered in the winter of 2007, and demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual propagation. The new cultivar reproduces true to type.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be unique characteristics of ‘OPAL STAR’, which in combination distinguish this Hippeastrum as a new and distinct cultivar:
Plants of the new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ differ from plants of the female or seed parent, the unpatented, wild-type Hippeastrum papillio designated WT30 , in the following characteristics described in Table 1.
Of the many commercial cultivars known to the present inventor, the most similar to the new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ is the Hippeastrum hybrid (leopoldii-type) ‘Red Lion’ (patented, grant number unknown, and differs from the new Hippeastrum ‘OPAL STAR’ in the following characteristics described in Table 2:
The accompanying photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Hippeastrum cultivar ‘OPAL STAR’ showing the colors as true as is reasonably possible with 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 color of ‘OPAL STAR’.
The new Hippeastrum cultivar ‘OPAL STAR’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new cultivar may vary with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, and day length without any change in the genotype of the plant.
The aforementioned photographs, together with the following observations, measurements and values describe plants of ‘OPAL STAR’ as grown in a greenhouse in Bet Dagan, Israel, under conditions which closely approximate those generally used in commercial practice.
Mother bulbs of ‘OPAL STAR’ (about 28 cm to 30 cm in circumference) are cut into 12 vertical segments which are subsequently subdivided into 5 to 6 twin-scale units. The twin-scale units are dipped for 15 minutes in 0.2% Benlet and 0.5% Marpan to prevent fungal infection, then the twin-scale units are air dried for 3-4 hours and placed in moist Vermiculite no. 2 (8% to 10% moisture) and incubated at 22° C. to 24° C. for 3 to 4 months. The resulting bulblets are planted and grown in raised, heated soil beds (soil temperature maintained at an average temperature of about 20° C. to 22° C.) in coco-peat and Tuff 0.8 (80:20%) and grown for 2 years until they flower for the first time.
Plants of ‘OPAL STAR’ have been grown in an insect-proof greenhouse, covered with a permanent polycarbonate roof with movable polyethylene curtains, and under 50% shading. Drip irrigation is administered at 80-100 m3/ha and a liquid fertilize is applied of (NPK 5:3:8) 50 ppm. Plants of ‘OPAL STAR’ are grown with (1) an average winder air temperature of about 12° C. to 25° C. during the day and about 6° C. to 12° C. during the evening and (2) an average summer air temperature of about 22° C. to 38° C. during the day and about 18° C. to 22° C. during the evening. Plants of ‘OPAL STAR’ reach full growth about 6 to 10 weeks after planting in the summer season of cured bulbs.
Color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (R.H.S.), 1986 edition, except where general colors of ordinary significance are used. Color values were taken under daylight conditions at approximately noon in full sunlight in Bet Dagan, Israel. The age of the ‘OPAL STAR’ plants described is about 6 to 10 weeks after planting of a cured bulb in the summer season.
