Patent Grant
PP32599
Latin name of the genus and species: Vriesea hybrida.
Variety denomination: ‘FLARE’.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Vriesea plant, botanically known as Vriesea hybrida, hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘FLARE’. The genus of Vriesea belongs to the Bromeliaceae family. The new Vriesea cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventors, Elly Bak and Nico D. M. Steur, in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to develop a new Vriesea variety with good growing habit and attractive inflorescence.
The new Vriesea cultivar ‘FLARE’ originated from a cross-made in a controlled breeding program by the inventors in 1997 in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The seed parent is an unpatented Vriesea selection designated ‘930484’. The pollen parent is an unpatented Vriesea selection designated ‘930370’. ‘FLARE’ was discovered and selected by the inventors in 2002, as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Assendelft, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘FLARE’ was first performed by tissue culture in 2014, in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The first ‘FLARE’ plants propagated through the use of tissue culture flowered in 2018, in Assendelft, The Netherlands, and have demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true-to-type.
The cultivar ‘FLARE’ 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 ‘FLARE’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘FLARE’ as a new and distinct Vriesea cultivar:
Plants of the parents are no longer available to provide a botanical comparison with the new Vriesea cultivar ‘FLARE’.
‘FLARE’ is similar in most horticultural characteristics to the unpatented commercial variety Vriesea ‘Shade’, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 16/602,006. However the new variety, ‘FLARE’ differs in the following:
The accompanying figure illustrates the overall appearance of the new Vriesea cultivar ‘FLARE’ showing the colors as true as is reasonably possible with colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photograph may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description which accurately describes the color of ‘FLARE’. The photograph shows a side perspective view of a typical potted flowering plant of ‘FLARE’ at about 18 months of age from potting.
‘FLARE’ 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, day length, fertilizers and humidity without any change in the genotype of the plant. The afore mentioned photograph, together with the following observations, measurements and values describe the new Vriesea cultivar as grown in a greenhouse in Assendelft, The Netherlands, under conditions which closely approximate those generally used in commercial practice. Plants of ‘FLARE’ were grown in a greenhouse with day temperatures ranging from 20° C. to 28° C. and night temperatures ranging from 18° C. to 23° C. No artificial lighting or photoperiodic treatments were conducted, but plants of ‘FLARE’ are forced into flowering. The following fertilizer is added when growing plants of ‘FLARE’: 1 part nitrogen, 0.6 parts phosphor, 2 parts Kalium and 0.1 parts magnesium. Color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (R.H.S.), 2007 except where general colors of ordinary significance are used. Color values were taken under daylight conditions in a greenhouse in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The age of the plants of ‘FLARE’ described is about 18 months from potting.
