Patent Application
20190021197
Botanical designation: Hydrangea macrophylla.
Cultivar denomination: ‘H216906’.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla, commercially referred to as a mophead-type Hydrangea and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘H216906’.
The new Hydrangea plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in De Kwakel, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely-branching Hydrangea plants with strong sturdy stems, large inflorescences with numerous showy sterile flowers, attractive sterile flower color and good postproduction longevity.
The new Hydrangea plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in April, 2012 in De Kwakel, The Netherlands, of a proprietary selection of Hydrangea macrophylla identified as code number 10-0169-002, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Hydrangea macrophylla identified as code number 10-0167-091, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Hydrangea plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in De Kwakel, The Netherlands in March, 2014.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hydrangea plant by vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in De Kwakel, The Netherlands since June, 2014 has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the new Hydrangea 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 ‘H216906’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘H216906’ as a new and distinct Hydrangea plant:
1. Upright and rounded plant habit.
2. Vigorous growth habit and moderate growth rate.
3. Freely branching habit with strong, thick and sturdy stems.
4. Early, freely and uniformly flowering habit.
5. Mophead-type inflorescences with numerous double-type bright red purple-colored sterile flowers.
6. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Hydrangea can be compared to plants of the female and male parent selections. Plants of the new Hydrangea differ primarily from plants of the female and male parent selections in sterile flower type as sterile flowers of plants of the new Hydrangea are double types with several whorls of sepals whereas sterile flowers of plants of the female and male parent selections are single types with a single whorl of sepals.
Plants of the new Hydrangea can be compared to plants of the Hydrangea hybrida ‘Agrihydravijf’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,731. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Hydrangea differ primarily from plants of ‘Agrihydravijf’ in the following characteristics:
1. Panicles of plants of the new Hydrangea are broader than panicles of plants of ‘Agrihydravijf’.
2. Plants of the new Hydrangea have more sterile flowers per inflorescence than plants of ‘Agrihydravijf’.
3. Sterile flowers of plants of the new Hydrangea are double types with several whorls of sepals whereas sterile flowers of plants of ‘Agrihydravijf’ are single types with a single whorl of sepals.
4. Plants of the new Hydrangea have darker red purple-colored sterile flower sepals than plants of ‘Agrihydravijf’.
5. When “blued”, plants of the new Hydrangea have purple-colored sterile flower sepals whereas plants of ‘Agrihydravif’ have light violet blue-colored flower sepals.
The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the unique appearance of the new Hydrangea 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 from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description which accurately describe the colors of the new Hydrangea plant.
The photograph on the first sheet is a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘H216906’.
The photograph on the second sheet is a close-up view of a typical inflorescence of that has not been “blued”, that is, treated with aluminum sulfate.
The photograph on the third sheet is a close-up view of a typical inflorescence of ‘H216906’ that has been “blued”.
Plants used in the aforementioned photographs and in the following description were grown during the spring in 13-cm containers in a glass-covered greenhouse in De Kwakel, The Netherlands and under cultural practices typical of commercial Hydrangea production. During the production of the plants, day and night temperatures averaged 17° C. Plants of the new Hydrangea were pinched one time and were ten months old when the photographs and description were taken. Plants of the new Hydrangea can be successfully treated with aluminum sulfate to “blue” the inflorescences. 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.
