Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yodarlene’

Abstract

A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yodarlene’, 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 to obovate-shaped ray florets; purple-colored ray florets; and natural season flowering about September 20th in the Northern Hemisphere.

Description

Botanical designation: Chrysanthemum×morifolium.

Cultivar denomination: ‘Yodarlene’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

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

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 by the Inventor in January, 2001, in Salinas, Calif. of a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 98-M307, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 98-M394, 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 in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in October, 2003.

Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Alva, Fla. in December, 2003. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of the cultivar Yodarlene 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 ‘Yodarlene’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Yodarlene’ as a new and distinct garden Chrysanthemum cultivar:

• • 1. Compact, upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
  • 2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit.
  • 3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
  • 4. Decorative-type inflorescences with elongated oblong to obovate-shaped ray florets.
  • 5. Purple-colored ray florets.
  • 6. Natural season flowering about September 20^th 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 selection in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered later than plants of the female parent selection when grown under natural season conditions.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the female parent selection.
  • 3. Ray florets of plants of the new Chrysanthemum were purple in color whereas ray florets of plants of the female parent selection were yellow in color.

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 mounded than plants of the male parent selection.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the male parent selection differed in inflorescence form.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of the male parent selection.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum differ from plants of the cultivar Yojillian, disclosed in a U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 11/641,400, filed concurrently, primarily in time to flower and ray floret coloration.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Yopatricia, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,907. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Yopatricia in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were smaller than plants of the cultivar Yopatricia.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered earlier than plants of the cultivar Yopatricia were grown under natural season conditions.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Yopatricia.
  • 4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Yopatricia differed in ray floret coloration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Chrysanthemum. These photographs show 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 colors of the new Chrysanthemum.

The photograph at the bottom of the sheet comprises a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Yodarlene’.

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

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The aforementioned photographs and following observations and measurements describe plants grown in Fletcher, N.C. during the summer in an outdoor nursery and under conditions and practices which approximate those generally used in commercial garden Chrysanthemum production. During the production of the plants, day temperatures averaged 29° C. and night temperatures averaged 16° C. Plants were grown in 15-containers, exposed to long day/short night conditions and pinched about two weeks later. About two weeks after the pinch, the photoinductive short day/long night treatments were started. Plants used in the photographs and for the description were about three months old. 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.

• Botanical classification: Chrysanthemum×morifolium cultivar Yodarlene.
• Parentage:
  • • Female, or seed, parent.—Proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 98-M307, not patented.
    • Male, or pollen, parent.—Proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 98-M394, not patented.
• Propagation:
  • • Type.—Terminal vegetative cuttings.
    • Time to initiate roots.—About four days at temperatures of about 21° C.
    • Time to produce a rooted young plant.—About ten to twelve days at temperatures of about 21° C.
    • Root description.—Fine, fibrous; white in color.
    • Rooting habit.—Freely branching.
• Plant description:
  • • Appearance.—Herbaceous decorative-type garden Chrysanthemum. Stems upright and outwardly spreading giving a uniformly mounded appearance to the plant. Freely branching habit, about six lateral branches develop after removal of terminal apex (pinching) each with numerous secondary laterals; dense and full plant habit. Strong and vigorous growth habit.
    • Plant height.—About 18.5 cm.
    • Plant width.—About 27 cm.
    • Lateral branches.—Length: About 17 cm. Diameter: About 8 mm. Internode length: About 1.5 cm. Strength: Strong. Texture: Pubescent. Color: 144A overlain with 183C.
    • Leaves.—Arrangement: Alternate, simple. Length: About 4.8 cm. Width: About 4.5 cm. Apex: Broadly acute. Base: Obtuse with cordate tendencies. Margin: Palmately lobed, sinuses between lateral lobes mostly parallel. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Fine pubescence; veins prominent on lower surface. Color: Developing and fully expanded foliage, lower surface: 147A; venation, 147B. Developing and fully expanded foliage, lower surface 147B; venation, 147B. Petiole: Length: About 1.3 cm. Diameter: About 2.5 mm. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Pubescent. Color, upper and lower surfaces: 147B.
• Inflorescence description:
  • • Appearance.—Decorative-type inflorescence form with elongated oblong to obovate-shaped ray florets. Inflorescences borne on terminals above foliage. Disk and ray florets arranged acropetally on a capitulum. Inflorescences moderately fragrant.
    • Flowering response.—Under natural season conditions, plants flower about September 20^th in the Northern Hemisphere. At other times of the year, inflorescence initiation and development can be induced under short day/long night conditions (at least 13.5 hours of darkness). Early flowering habit; plants exposed to photoinductive short day/long night conditions flower about 56 days later.
    • Postproduction longevity.—Inflorescences maintain good color and substance for about 3.5 weeks in an outdoor nursery.
    • Quantity of inflorescences.—About 30 to 31 inflorescences develop per lateral branch.
    • Inflorescence bud.—Height: About 1 cm. Diameter: About 1.1 cm. Shape: Oblate. Color: 75B.
    • Inflorescence size.—Diameter: About 4 cm. Depth (height): About 1.6 cm. Disc diameter: About 2 mm; inconspicuous. Receptacle diameter: About 1.5 cm. Receptacle height: About 4 mm.
    • Ray florets.—Shape: Elongated-oblong to obovate. Orientation: Initially upright, then about 45° to 60° from vertical; eventually perpendicular to peduncle. Aspect: Initially incurved, then mostly concave. Length: About 1.6 cm. Width: About 6 mm. Apex: Slightly emarginate. Base: Acute. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous, satiny. Number of ray florets per inflorescence: About 120 arranged in about ten to twelve whorls. Color: When opening, upper surface: 78C. When opening, lower surface: 75D. Fully opened, upper surface: 71A; color becoming closer to 78B to 78C with development. Fully opened, lower surface: 78B to 78C; color becoming closer to 69C with development.
    • Disc florets.—Shape: Tubular, elongated. Length: About 3 mm. Diameter: About 1 mm. Number of disc florets per inflorescence: About ten. Color, immature: Apex: Close to 7A. Mid-section: Close to 7C. Base: Close to 157A. Color, mature: Apex: Close to 7A. Mid-section: Close to 4C. Base: Close to 157A.
    • Phyllaries.—Number of phyllaries per inflorescence: About 16 arranged in about one or two whorls. Length: About 6 mm. Width: About 3 mm. Shape: Elliptic. Apex: Acute. Base: Truncate. Texture, upper surface: Smooth, waxy. Texture, lower surface: Pubescent. Color, upper surface: Close to 137C. Color, lower surface: Close to 137B.
    • Peduncles.—Length: About 4 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Angle: About 45° from vertical. Strength: Strong. Texture: Pubescent; longitudinally ridged. Color: Close to 148A.
    • Reproductive organs.—Androecium: Stamen number: About five per floret. Filament length: Less than 1 mm. Filament color: Close to 145D. Anther length: Less than 1 mm. Anther shape: Oblong. Anther color: Close to 11A. Pollen amount: None observed. Gynoecium: Pistil length: About 4 mm. Stigma shape: Bi-parted. Stigma color: Close to 1C. Style length: About 1 mm. Style color: Close to 1D. Ovary color: Close to 157D.
    • Seed/fruit.—Seed and fruit production has 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 to tolerate temperatures from about 0° C. to about 38° C.

Claims

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