plant named ‘Girona Orange’

Abstract

A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Girona Orange’, characterized by its compact, upright, outwardly spreading and rounded plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit; uniform, freely and early flowering habit; and decorative-type inflorescences with orange-colored ray florets.

Description

Botanical designation: Chrysanthemum×morifolium.

Cultivar denomination: ‘GIRONA ORANGE’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum×morifolium, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Girona Orange’.

The new Chrysanthemum is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of Chrysanthemum×morifolium ‘PPP GIRO 09’, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 12/462,274. The new Chrysanthemum plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant from within a population of plants of ‘PPP GIRO 09’ in a controlled greenhouse environment in Oostnieuwkerke, Belgium in August, 2004.

Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum plant by vegetative cuttings was first conducted in a controlled greenhouse environment in Oostnieuwkerke, Belgium in January, 2005. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength 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 ‘Girona Orange’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Girona Orange’ as a new and distinct Chrysanthemum cultivar:

• • 1. Compact, upright, outwardly spreading and rounded plant habit.
  • 2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit.
  • 3. Uniform, freely and early flowering habit.
  • 4. Decorative-type inflorescences with orange-colored ray florets.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum differ primarily from the parent, ‘PPP GIRO 09’, in ray floret color as plants of ‘PPP GIRO 09’ have purple-colored ray florets.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of Chrysanthemum×morifolium ‘Denise’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,178. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Oostnieuwkerke, Belgium, plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of ‘Denise’ in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were more compact than plants of ‘Denise’.
  • 2. Stems of plants of the new Chrysanthemum were more flexible than and not as brittle as stems of plants of ‘Denise’.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of ‘Denise’.
  • 4. Ray floret color of plants of the new Chrysanthemum was lighter in color than ray floret color of plants of ‘Denise’.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH

The accompanying photograph illustrates the overall appearance of the new Chrysanthemum plant. This photograph shows the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photograph may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description which accurately describe the colors of the new Chrysanthemum plant. The photograph comprises a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Girona Orange’ grown in a container.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The aforementioned photograph and following observations and measurements describe plants grown in 19-cm containers in an outdoor nursery in Oostnieuwkerke, Belgium during the summer and autumn under conditions and practices which approximate those generally used in commercial production. During the production of the plants, day temperatures ranged from 25° C. to 30° C. and night temperatures ranged from 15° C. to 20° C. Plants were 15 weeks old when the photograph and description were taken. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 2005 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

Botanical classification: Chrysanthemum×morifolium ‘Girona Orange’.

• Parentage: Naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of Chrysanthemum×morifolium ‘PPP GIRO 09’, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 12/462,274.
• Propagation:
  • • Type.—Terminal vegetative cuttings.
    • Time to initiate roots, summer.—About 14 days at temperatures of about 20° C.
    • Time to initiate roots, winter.—About 20 days at temperatures of about 20° C.
    • Time to produce a rooted young plant, summer.—About 30 days at temperatures of about 20° C.
    • Time to produce a rooted young plant, winter.—About 40 days at temperatures of about 20° C.
    • Root description.—Fine, fibrous; light brown in color.
    • Rooting habit.—Freely branching; moderately dense.
• Plant description:
  • • Appearance.—Perennial decorative-type Chrysanthemum; compact plant habit with stems upright and outwardly spreading giving a uniformly rounded appearance to the plant; very freely branching habit, about 25 primary lateral branches develop, each primary lateral branch with multiple secondary branches; pinching enhances lateral branch development; dense and full plant habit; strong and moderately vigorous growth habit.
    • Plant height.—About 27 cm.
    • Plant width.—About 40 cm.
    • Lateral branches.—Length: About 25 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm to 3 mm. Internode length: About 2 cm. Strength: Strong. Texture: Pubescent; longitudinally ridged. Color: Close to 144A.
    • Leaves.—Arrangement: Alternate, simple. Length: About 2.5 cm to 4.5 cm. Width: About 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm. Apex: Rounded to cuspidate. Base: Attenuate. Margin: Palmately lobed and serrate, sinuses between lateral lobes divergent to parallel. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Slightly pubescent. Color: Developing leaves, upper surface: Close to 137C. Developing leaves, lower surface: Close to 137D. Fully expanded leaves, upper surface: Close to N137C; venation, close to 148C. Fully expanded leaves, lower surface: Close to 147B; venation, close to 147B to 147C. Petiole: Length: About 1 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Slightly pubescent and rough. Color, upper surface: Close to 146C. Color, lower surface: Close to 146D.
• Inflorescence description:
  • • Appearance.—Decorative-type inflorescence form; inflorescences borne on terminals above foliage; disc and ray florets arranged acropetally on a capitulum.
    • Fragrance.—Faintly fragrant, pungent.
    • Flowering response.—Under natural season conditions, plants flower mid-August in Belgium.
    • Postproduction longevity.—Inflorescences maintain good color and substance for about 35 days in an outdoor nursery; inflorescences persistent.
    • Quantity of inflorescences.—About 20 inflorescences develop per lateral branch.
    • Inflorescence bud.—Height: About 4 mm. Diameter: About 7 mm. Shape: Globular. Color: Between 144A and 137C.
    • Inflorescence size.—Diameter: About 4.5 cm. Depth (height): About 3 cm. Disc diameter: About 4 mm. Receptacle diameter: About 3 mm. Receptacle height: About 2.5 mm to 3 mm. Receptacle color: Close to 144B.
    • Ray florets.—Length: About 1.5 cm to 2 cm. Width: About 5 mm. Shape: Oval. Apex: Rounded. Base: Attenuate. Margin: Entire. Aspect: Mostly flat. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous. Number of ray florets per inflorescence: About 150 to 175 arranged in about eight whorls. Color: When opening, upper surface: Close to 171B. When opening, lower surface: Close to 34D. Fully opened, upper surface: Close to 169C; color becoming closer to 22A with development. Fully opened, lower surface: Close to 22A; color becoming closer to 20B with development.
    • Disc florets.—Length: About 3 mm. Diameter: About 0.5 mm to 1 mm. Shape: Tubular, elongated; apices acute. Number of disc florets per inflorescence: About 50 to 75. Color: Apex: Close to 144C. Mid-section: Close to 5B. Base: Close to 145D.
    • Phyllaries.—Number of phyllaries per inflorescence: About 25 arranged in two or three whorls. Length: About 4 mm to 6 mm. Width: About 2 mm to 3 mm. Shape: Ovate. Apex: Rounded. Base: Rounded to truncate. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous. Color, upper surface: Close to 137A. Color, lower surface: Close to N137B.
    • Peduncles.—Length, terminal peduncle: About 4 cm. Length, fourth peduncle: About 6 cm. Length, seventh peduncle: About 8 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Angle: About 30° from vertical. Strength: Moderately strong. Texture: Slightly pubescent. Color: Close to 146B.
    • Reproductive organs.—Androecium: Not observed. Gynoecium: Not observed.
    • Seed/fruit.—Seed and fruit production have not been observed.
• Disease/pest resistance: Resistance to pathogens and pests common to Chrysanthemums has not been observed on plants grown under commercial conditions.
• Garden performance: Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have demonstrated excellent garden performance and will tolerate temperatures ranging from about 0° C. to about 45° C.

Claims

1. A new and distinct Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Girona Orange’ as illustrated and described.