Lachenalia jacq. f. ex Murray plant named ‘Cherise’

Abstract

A new and distinct form of Lachenalia plant characterized by a bulb plant type having a spreading growth habit of a height of 15-30 centimetres (cm) and width of 10-15 cm having a cerise pink flower and green leave with maroon spots.

Description

Genus and species: Lachenalia Jacq. f. ex Murray.

Variety denomination: ‘Cherise’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Lachenalia, botanically known as Lachenalia Jacq. f. ex Murray having the common name of Viooltjies/Cape cowslip and hereinafter referred to by its variety denomination ‘Cherise’.

The variety was first cultivated in 2008 and originated by means of conventional breeding by the inventor during 2009 to 2010 at the premises of Agricultural Research Council Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute, Roodeplaat, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.

Asexual reproduction of the ‘Cherise’ plant at the same location has shown that the unique features thereof are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of Lachenalia which originated from the controlled pollination between a Lachenalia hybrid as seed bearing parent and a Lachenalia hybrid as pollen parent as detailed hereinbelow.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics, under the local evaluation conditions, of the ‘Cherise’ plant. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Cherise’ as a new and distinct Lachenalia cultivar:

• • 1. Bulb plant type having a spreading growth habit of a height of 15-30 centimeters (cm) and width of 10-15 cm.
  • 2. Flower color: cerise pink (RHS #52B).
  • 3. Leaf color: green (RHS #141C) with maroon (RHS #53A) spots.

Color references are made to The R.H.S. Colour Chart, 1^st edition, 1966, except where general color terms of ordinary significance are used or indicated otherwise.

Plants of the new Lachenalia variety ‘Cherise’ can be compared to similar denominations such as ‘Robyn’ and ‘Rosabeth’ but differs in that the flower color of ‘Cherise’ is cerise pink (RHS #52B) with darker pink (RHS #53C) tips compared to the red and red with green tips of ‘Robyn’ and ‘Rosabeth’ respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The first drawing illustrates the overall appearance of the ‘Cherise’, showing the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. The first drawing comprises a front perspective view of a typical ‘Cherise’ grown in an indoor nursery.

The second drawing illustrates the overall appearance of the ‘Cherise’, showing the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. The second drawing comprises a front perspective view of a typical ‘Cherise’ which is located in an outdoor setting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The aforementioned drawings, following observations and measurements describe ‘Cherise’ grown by the inventor on behalf of Agricultural Research Council Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute, Roodeplaat, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. Thereafter ‘Cherise’ was made subject of a South African Plant Breeders' Right application in March 2009. This application was granted in 2010 under number ZA20104393.

The plant is a late flowering cultivar and may be used for landscaping and should be planted during the month of March; indoors and in pots only. The plant should be kept at temperatures of 20-25 degrees Celsius during the day and 10-15 degrees Celsius at night. Plenty of light should be provided.

‘Cherise’ is a hybrid-hybrid cross containing the following Lachenalia species: Lachenalia orchioides subsp. glaucina, Lachenalia bulbifera, Lachenalia quadricolor, Lachenalia rubida, Lachenalia aloides.

The specific ‘Cherise’ parentage is as follows:

Female parent: (L. bulbifera x [L. aloides x L. rubida]) x ([L. bulbifera x L. rubida] x L. bulbifera).

This is the parenting background for ‘Rupert’. The specific seedling resulting from the final cross as described here—was registered as cultivar ‘Rupert’ and a vegetatively propagated plant of ‘Rupert’ was used as female parent for ‘Cherise’.

Male parent: {([L. orchioides x L. bulbifera] x [L. orchioides x L. bulbifera]) x ([L. orichioides x L. rubida] x [L. orichioides x L. rubida])} x {([L. aloides x L. rubida] x [L. aloides x L. rubida]) x ([L. orchioides x L. bulbifera] x [L. orchioides x L. bulbifera])}.

This is the parenting background for ‘Eliza’. The specific seedling resulting from the final cross as described here—was registered as cultivar ‘Eliza’ and a vegetatively propagated plant of ‘Eliza’ was used as parent for ‘Cherise’.

‘Rupert’ has purple flowers, compared to the cerise pink (RHS #52B) with darker pink (RHS #53C) tips of ‘Cherise’. The flower orientation of ‘Rupert’ is similar to ‘Cherise’ but the flower tips of ‘Rupert’ are more spreading than those of ‘Cherise’. The inflorescence of ‘Rupert’ is more compact than that of ‘Cherise’.

‘Eliza’ has orange and red flowers compared to the cerise pink (RHS #52B) flower color of ‘Cherise’. The flower orientation and density of ‘Cherise’ is similar to that of ‘Eliza’, but the flower tips are more spreading than that of ‘Eliza’.

A specific seedling with number 2000/120/061 was selected from this cross and thereafter asexually propagated. The asexual progeny of this seedling is the cultivar ‘Cherise’.

‘Cherise’ was originally produced sexually from a cross between the two varieties mentioned above. A specific seedling with number 2000/120/061 was selected from this cross and thereafter asexually propagated. The asexual progeny of this seedling is the cultivar ‘Cherise’ and was multiplied via tissue culture at the premises of Agricultural Research Council Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute, Roodeplaat, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.

The following characteristics of ‘Cherise’ are described with reference to description of said characteristic which are comparable with the mentioned variety/ies having said similar characteristic.

• Leaf: Monocolored.

		Variety having
	Description of	similar
Characteristic:	‘Cherise’:	characteristics:
Attitude	Semi-erect	‘Romaud’
Length	Medium	‘Bontrok’, ‘Winsome’
	(20 cm)
Width	Medium	‘Rosabeth’
	(4.5 cm)
Ratio length:width	Medium (4.4:1)	‘Romaud’
Shape	Lanceolate	‘Rodelein’
Color	Green	‘Roinge’
	(RHS #141C)
Leaf color designation for	Green (RHS
lower sides of the leaf	#141C)
Shape in cross-section	Angular	‘Robyn’, ‘Romelia’
Recurving of margin	Present	‘Romaud’
Undulation of margin	Present	‘Elegant’, ‘Leipoldt’
Blistering of upper side	Absent	‘Rodelein’, ‘Rosabeth’
Pubescence of upper side	Absent	‘Rodelein’, ‘Rosabeth’
Spots on upper side	Present	‘Bontrok’, ‘Roinge’,
		‘Rosabeth’
Number of spots per leaf	Amount differs
	from plant to
	plant, no exact
	number of spots
	per leaf
Color of spots on upper	Maroon
side	(RHS #53A)
Size of spots on upper side	Medium	‘Robyn’, ‘Roinge’
	(2-3 millimeter
	(mm))
Density of spots on upper	Medium	‘Roinge’, ‘Rosabeth’
side
Intensity of color of spots	Medium	‘Rolina’, ‘Romelia’
on upper side
Markings on outer side of	Absent	‘Rodelein’
leaf base

• Peduncle:

		Variety having
	Description of	similar
Characteristic:	‘Cherise’:	characteristics:
Length	Medium	‘Rosabeth’
	(20-25 cm)
Peduncle color designation	Purplish (RHS
	#53B) with green
	(RHS #141C)
Spots or markings	Present	‘Bontrok’,
		‘Rosabeth’
Coloration of peduncle spots	Purplish (RHS
	#53B)
Size of spots or markings	Medium	‘Robyn’
	(1-2 mm)
Density of spots or markings	Medium, covers	‘Robyn’
	the peduncle:
	spots may be as
	close as 0.2 mm,
	but may differ

• Bud:

Characteristic: Description of ‘Cherise’:
Color           Cerise pink (RHS #52B)

• Inflorescence:

		Description of	Variety having similar
	Characteristic:	‘Cherise’:	characteristics:
	Length	Medium (17 cm)	‘Robyn’, ‘Roklara’
	Rudimentary apex	Inconspicuous	‘Rosabeth’
	Number of flowers	Medium	‘Rolina’, ‘Romelia’
		(30+ flowers)

• Flower:

		Variety having
	Description of	similar
Characteristic:	‘Cherise’:	characteristics:
Description of floral organs	Inflorescence
	containing
	individual tubular
	flowers attached
	with pedicels to
	the peduncle
Predominant color:	Cerise pink (RHS	‘Leipoldt’,
	#52B)	‘Louis’
Intensity of predominant color:	Medium to strong
Attitude:	Horizontal	‘Robyn’,
		‘Romargo’
Flower length:	Long - 3.2 cm	‘Robyn’,
		‘Romelia’
Pedicel:	Present	‘Romelia’
Length of pedicel:	Medium	‘Bontrok’,
	(2-3 mm)	‘Louis’
Flower diameter at apex:	Medium to large:
	1.5 cm
Flower diameter excluding	Medium - 0.8 cm	‘Romargo’,
apex:		‘Romelia’,
		‘Rosabeth’
Flower attitude of distal part of	Spreading	‘Rozanne’
inner perianth segments:
Flower glossiness:	Absent
Outer perianth segment: color	Red (RHS #47D
of basal part just before	of RHS color
opening of flower:	chart, 2nd edition,
	1986)
Outer perianth segment: color	Red (RHS #47C
of basal part of fully opened	of RHS color
flower	chart, 2nd edition,
	1986)
Outer perianth segment: color	Clearly different	‘Ronette’
of apex relative to other part:
Outer perianth segment: color	Yellow-brown
of apex is clearly different from	(RHS #160B)
other part
Inner perianth segment:	Present	‘Ronette’
distinct spot in middle of apex:
Inner perianth segment: color	Clearly different	‘Louis’,
of margin of apex relative to		‘Roinge’
other part:
Inner perianth segment: color	Purple	‘Louis’,
of differently colored margin of	(RHS #61B)	‘Leipoldt’
apex:
Inner perianth segment:	Red (RHS #47C
predominant color of exposed	of RHS color
part (excluding differently	chart, 2nd edition,
colored margin of apex)	1986)
Length of inner perianth	Longer	‘Roinge’,
segment compared to outer		‘Rosabeth’
segments
Extrusion of stamens	Absent	‘Roinge’,
		‘Rosabeth’
Fragrance	Absent	‘Romelia’
Predominant shape	Oblate	‘Romaud’
Time of flowering	Late - flowering	‘Bontrok’,
	time vary from	‘Roinge’,
	July to August	‘Roklara’
	(Southern
	Hemisphere)
Duration of flowering	Medium	‘Rodelein’,
	(±1 to 2 and a	‘Roinge’
	half months)

• Others:

Characteristic:             Description of ‘Cherise’:
Description of the bulb     Cream/white (color designation - RHS
including size and color of #159C)
the bulb at maturity        Size: between 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter
Time of leaf growth/bud     Starts within the first week of watering
burst                       (normally March/April in Southern
                            Hemisphere)
A description of any fruit  No seed or fruit
and seed set
Timing of leaf senescence   After flowering has completed and starts
                            to die down, the leaves start to die off
                            (wheat color) and plant dry out
                            (September - October in Southern
                            Hemisphere)

The variety is not genetically modified and has been tested to be free of Ornithogalum Mosaic Virus.

Claims

1. A new and distinct variety of Lachenalia plant named ‘Cherise’ as illustrated and described herein.