Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yotiffany’

Abstract

A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yotiffany’, characterized by its compact, upright and outwardly spreading plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit; uniform and freely flowering habit; decorative-type inflorescences with elongated oblong-shaped ray florets; white-colored ray florets; and natural season flowering in early September in the Northern Hemisphere.

Description

Botanical designation: Chrysanthemum×morifolium.

Cultivar denomination: ‘Yotiffany’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum×morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Yotiffany’.

The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.

The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross-pollination made in December, 1999 in Salinas, Calif., of the Chrysanthemum×morifolium cultivar Mariyo, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,910, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 95-L443007, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in October, 2000. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive floret coloration and good garden performance.

Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since January, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The cultivar Yotiffany has 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 ‘Yotiffany’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Yotiffany’ as a new and distinct cultivar:

• • 1. Compact, upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
  • 2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
  • 3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
  • 4. Decorative-type inflorescences with elongated oblong-shaped ray florets.
  • 5. White-colored ray florets.
  • 6. Natural season flowering in early September in the Northern Hemisphere.

In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Mariyo, in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were slightly smaller and more rounded than plants of the cultivar Mariyo.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about twelve days earlier than plants of the cultivar Mariyo.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Mariyo.

In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were more rounded than plants of the male parent selection.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about two weeks earlier than plants of the male parent selection.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the male parent selection.
  • 4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the male parent selection differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the male parent selection had yellow-colored ray florets.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Empire Chablis, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,986. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Empire Chablis in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were smaller and more rounded than plants of the cultivar Empire Chablis.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences with fewer disc florets than plants of the cultivar Empire Chablis.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had longer lasting inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Empire Chablis.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can also be compared to plants of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Gedi M1, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,235. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Gedi M1 in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were more rounded than plants of the cultivar Gedi M1.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about seven to ten days earlier than plants of the cultivar Gedi M1.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Gedi M1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH

The accompanying photograph illustrates the overall appearance of the new Chrysanthemum. These photograph show 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. The photograph comprises a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Yotiffany’ grown in a container.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. The following observations and measurements describe plants grown in Leamington, Ontario, Canada during the late summer and early fall in an outdoor nursery under conditions and practices which approximate those generally used in commercial garden-type Chrysanthemum production. One cutting was planted in a 15.25-cm container in mid-July, 2004. Plants were grown under natural season conditions. During the production of the plants, temperatures ranged from 10° to 32° C. Measurements and numerical values represent averages for typical flowering plants.

• Botanical classification: Chrysanthemum×morifolium cultivar Yotiffany.
• Commercial classification: Decorative-type garden Chrysanthemum.
• Parentage:
  • • Female, or seed, parent.—Chrysanthemum×morifolium cultivar Mariyo, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,910.
    • Male, or pollen, parent.—Proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 95-L443007, not patented.
• Propagation:
  • • Type.—Terminal vegetative cuttings.
    • Time to initiate roots.—About four days at 21° C.
    • Time to produce a rooted cutting.—About ten to twelve days at 21° C.
    • Root description.—Fine, fibrous; white in color.
    • Rooting habit.—Freely branching.
• Plant description:
  • • Plant form/growth habit.—Perennial herbaceous decorative-type garden Chrysanthemum. Inverted triangle with mounded crown. Stems initially upright, then outwardly spreading; compact plant habit. Freely branching with about 13 primary branches with lateral branches potentially forming at every node. Moderately vigorous growth habit.
    • Plant height.—About 21 cm.
    • Plant diameter.—About 38 cm.
    • Lateral branches.—Length: About 18 cm. Diameter: About 5.5 mm. Internode length: About 1.3 cm. Aspect: Upright and outwardly spreading. Texture: Pubescent. Color: 146A.
    • Foliage description.—Leaf arrangement: Alternate. Length: About 4.5 cm. Width: About 3.4 cm. Apex: Mucronate. Base: Attenuate. Margin: Palmately lobed, sinuses parallel to divergent. Texture, upper surface: Slightly pubescent. Texture, lower surface: Pubescent; veins prominent. Color: Developing and fully expanded foliage, upper surface: More green than 147A. Developing and fully expanded foliage, lower surface: More green than 147B. Venation, upper surface: 147A to 147B. Venation, lower surface: Close to 147B. Petiole length: About 1.5 cm. Petiole diameter: About 3 mm. Petiole color, upper surface: Close to 147B to 147C. Petiole color, lower surface: Close to 146A.
• Inflorescence description:
  • • Appearance.—Decorative-type inflorescence form with elongated oblong-shaped ray florets. Inflorescences borne on terminals above foliage, arising from leaf axils. Ray florets developing acropetally on a capitulum. Very freely flowering, about 21 inflorescences per lateral branch.
    • Flowering responses.—Under natural season conditions, plants flower in early September in the Northern Hemisphere.
    • Inflorescence bud (before showing color).—Height: About 7 mm. Diameter: About 8 mm. Shape: Oblate. Color (lower surface of phyllaries): Close to 147A.
    • Inflorescence size.—Diameter: About 4.5 cm. Depth (height): About 1.8 cm. Disc diameter: No disc florets observed. Receptacle diameter: About 3.5 mm.
    • Ray florets.—Shape: Elongated oblong; occasionally quilled. Length: About 2.3 cm. Width: About 6 mm. Corolla tube length: About 6 mm. Corolla tube diameter: Variable, about 6 mm to 20 mm. Apex: Acute to emarginate. Margin: Fused. Texture: Smooth, glabrous; satiny. Surface: Mostly concave. Orientation: Initially upright, then perpendicular to the peduncle. Number of ray florets per inflorescence: About 182 in numerous whorls. Color: When opening and fully opened, upper surface: Close to 155D. When opening and fully opened, lower surface: Close to 155D.
    • Disc florets.—No disc florets observed.
    • Phyllaries.—Quantity per inflorescence: About 26. Length: About 8 mm. Width: About 3 mm. Shape: Ligulate. Apex: Acute. Base: Truncate. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper surface: Smooth, waxy. Texture, lower surface: Pubescent. Color, upper surface: Close to 146A. Color, lower surface: Close to 147A.
    • Peduncle.—Length: First peduncle: About 4.6 cm. Fourth peduncle: About 6.9 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Strength: Strong. Aspect: About 30° from vertical. Texture: Pubescent. Color: Close to 146A.
    • Reproductive organs.—Androecium: Not observed. Gynoecium: Present on ray florets. Style length: About 4 mm. Style color: Between 5A and 1A. Stigma color: Close to 9A.
    • Seed/fruit.—Seed and fruit production has not been observed.
• Disease/pest resistance: Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have not been shown to be resistant to pathogens and pests common to Chrysanthemums.
• Garden performance: Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have been observed to be tolerant to rain, wind and temperatures ranging from 0° to more than 38° C.

Claims

1. A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yotiffany’, as illustrated and described.