Astrantia plant named ‘Venice’

Abstract

A new and distinct cultivar of Astrantia plant named ‘Venice’, characterized by its upright plant habit; green-colored stems and leaves; freely and continuous flowering habit; and inflorescences with showy involucral bracts that are red purple in color.

Description

Botanical designation: Astrantia major.

Cultivar denomination: ‘Venice’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Astrantia, botanically known as Astrantia major and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Venice’.

The new Astrantia originated from an open-pollination in 2001 of an unnamed selection of Astrantia major, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Astrantia major, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Astrantia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated open-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Rijpwetering Wetering, The Netherlands in 2003.

Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by divisions in Rijpwetering, The Netherlands, since 2003, has shown that the unique features of this new Astrantia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of the cultivar Venice have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment 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 ‘Venice’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Venice’ as a new and distinct cultivar of Astrantia:

• • 1. Upright plant habit.
  • 2. Green-colored stems and leaves.
  • 3. Freely and continuous flowering habit.
  • 4. Inflorescences with showy involucral bracts that are red purple in color.

Plants of the new Astrantia differ from plants of the female parent selection primarily in plant size and flower color.

Plants of the new Astrantia can be compared to plants of the Astrantia cultivar Abbey Road, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,961. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Rijpwetering, The Netherlands, plants of the new Astrantia differed from plants of the cultivar Abbey Road primarily in flower color as plants of the cultivar Abbey Road had dark purple-colored involucral bracts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new cultivar, 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 actual colors of the new Astrantia.

The photograph on the first sheet is a side perspective view of typical plants of ‘Venice’ grown in an outdoor nursery.

The photograph at the top of the second sheet is a close-up view of typical inflorescences of ‘Venice’.

The photograph at the bottom of the second sheet is a close-up view of a typical leaf of ‘Venice’.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 2001 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. Plants used for the aforementioned photographs and following description were grown under conditions which closely approximate commercial production conditions during the late spring/early summer in an outdoor nursery in Rijpwetering, The Netherlands for about one year. During the production of the plants, day temperatures ranged from 14° C. to 27° C. and night temperatures ranged from 6° C. to 14° C.

• Botanical classification: Astrantia major cultivar Venice.
• Parentage:
  • • Female parent.—Unnamed selection of Astrantia major, not patented.
    • Male parent.—Unknown selection of Astrantia major, not patented.
• Propagation:
  • • Type.—By divisions.
    • Root description.—Fine, fibrous; coppery brown in color.
    • Rooting habit.—Freely branching; dense.
• Plant description:
  • • Form.—Upright perennial flowering plant with basal rosette of leaves; numerous erect peduncles support umbels of flowers held well above the foliage. Moderately vigorous growth habit.
    • Plant height.—About 56 cm.
    • Plant width.—About 33 cm.
    • Branch description.—Arrangement: Branching mostly basal; about three basal branches develop per plant. Length: About 40.5 cm. Diameter: About 4.5 mm. Internode length: About 15 cm. Strength: Strong. Aspect: Upright. Texture: Smooth, glabrous. Color: 143A to 143B; towards the apex, 146A to 147A.
• Foliage description:
  • • Arrangement.—Alternate, simple.
    • Length, basal leaves.—About 12.8 cm.
    • Length, stem leaves.—About 5.2 cm.
    • Width, basal leaves.—About 13.7 cm.
    • Width, stem leaves.—About 6.8 cm.
    • Shape.—Palmately-lobed.
    • Apex.—Acute.
    • Base.—Hastate.
    • Margin.—Doubly serrate.
    • Texture, upper and lower surfaces.—Smooth, glabrous.
    • Venation pattern.—Pinnate.
    • Color.—Developing foliage, upper surface: 137A. Developing foliage, lower surface: 137C. Fully expanded foliage, upper surface: 137A; venation, 137A. Fully expanded foliage, lower surface: 138A; venation, 144A to 144B.
    • Petiole length, basal leaves.—About 19.8 cm.
    • Petiole length, stem leaves.—About 3.5 cm.
    • Petiole diameter, basal leaves.—About 3.5 mm.
    • Petiole diameter, stem leaves.—About 5 mm.
    • Petiole color, basal leaves, upper and lower surfaces.—144A; towards the base, 183B to 183C.
    • Petiole color, stem leaves, upper and lower surfaces.—143A; longitudinal stripes, 143B to 144A.
• Inflorescence description:
  • • Inflorescence/flower arrangement and appearance.—Numerous, single, minute campanulate flowers subtended by showy involucral bracts; flowers arrange in compound umbels. Flowers face mostly upright to somewhat outwardly. Very freely flowering; during the flowering season, typically about 80 flowers per umbel and about eight umbels per flowering stem develop.
    • Natural flowering season.—Continuous flowering from late spring to early summer in The Netherlands.
    • Flower longevity on the plant.—About twelve days; flowers not persistent.
    • Fragrance.—Faint; unpleasant.
    • Flower buds.—Length: About 1.5 mm. Diameter: About 1.5 mm. Shape: Oblate. Color: 146A to 146B; towards the apex, 187D.
    • Inflorescence height.—About 2 cm.
    • Inflorescence diameter.—About 4.2 cm.
    • Flowers.—Diameter: About 2 mm. Depth (height): About 8 mm.
    • Petals.—Arrangement: Five in a single whorl. Length: About 2.5 mm. Width: About 0.6 mm. Shape: Ovate. Apex: Narrowly acute. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous. Color: When opening, upper and lower surfaces: 59C to 60B. Fully opened, upper and lower surfaces: 59C to 60B.
    • Sepals.—Arrangement: Five in a single whorl. Length: About 1 mm. Width: About 0.6 mm. Shape: Ovate. Apex: Broadly acute. Base: Cuneate. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous. Color: When opening, upper and lower surfaces: 187A. Fully opened, upper and lower surfaces: 187A.
    • Involucral bracts.—Arrangement: About 20 in a single whorl. Length: About 1.9 cm. Width: About 6 mm. Shape: Elliptic to narrowly obovate. Apex: Acute. Base: Attenuate. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous. Color: When opening, upper and lower surfaces: 59C; towards the base, 186D; towards the apex, N186C. Fully opened, upper and lower surfaces: 59C; towards the apex and venation; N186A to N186C.
    • Peduncles.—Length: About 13.5 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Strength: Strong. Texture: Smooth, glabrous. Color: 146A; longitudinal stripes, N186C.
    • Pedicels.—Length: About 7 mm. Diameter: About 0.3 mm. Strength: Strong. Texture: Smooth, glabrous. Color: 64A.
    • Reproductive organs.—Stamens: Quantity per flower: Five. Filament length: About 3.5 mm. Filament color: 59C. Anther shape: Elliptical. Anther length: About 1 mm. Anther color: 155A. Pollen amount: Scarce. Pollen color: 155A. Pistils: Quantity per flower: Two. Pistil length: About 3 mm. Stigma shape: Club-shaped. Stigma color: 187D. Style length: About 2.8 mm. Style color: 187D. Ovary color: 147A; ribs, 187C to 187D.
    • Seed/fruit.—Seed and fruit production has not been observed.
• Disease/pest resistance: Plants of the new Astrantia have not been noted to be resistant to pathogens and pests common to Astrantia.
• Garden performance: Plants of the new Astrantia have exhibited good tolerance to rain, wind, high temperatures of 30° C. and are hardy to USDA Zone 6.

Claims

1. A new and distinct Astrantia plant named ‘Venice’ as illustrated and described.