plant named ‘Fimmerred’

Abstract

A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Fimmerred’, characterized by its upright to outwardly spreading and uniformly mounded plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit; uniform and freely flowering habit; small to medium-size decorative-type inflorescences with dark red purple-colored ray florets; mid season-flowering habit; and good garden performance.

Description

Botanical designation: Chrysanthemum×morifolium.

Cultivar denomination: ‘FIMMERRED’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

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

The new Chrysanthemum plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program is to create new mid season-flowering garden Chrysanthemum plants with numerous attractive inflorescences.

The new Chrysanthemum plant originated from a cross-pollination made in January, 2010 by the Inventor in Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom of a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 82970, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 83261, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom in September, 2010.

Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum plant by terminal vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom in December, 2010. Asexual reproduction by terminal vegetative 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 combinations of environmental conditions and cultural practices. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environmental conditions 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 ‘Fimmerred’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Fimmerred’ as a new and distinct Chrysanthemum plant:

• • 1. Upright to outwardly spreading and uniformly mounded plant habit.
  • 2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plant habit.
  • 3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
  • 4. Small to medium-size decorative-type inflorescences with dark red purple-colored ray florets.
  • 5. Mid season-flowering habit; grown under natural season conditions, plants flower in mid to late September in the United Kingdom.
  • 6. Good garden performance.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the female parent selection. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum differ from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have larger inflorescences than plants of the female parent selection.
  • 2. Grown under natural season conditions, plants of the new Chrysanthemum flower earlier than plants of the female parent selection.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the male parent selection. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum differ from plants of the male parent selection, in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Grown under natural season conditions, plants of the new Chrysanthemum flower later than plants of the male parent selection.
  • 2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the male parent selection differ in ray floret color as plants of the male parent selection have pink-colored ray florets.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of Chrysanthemum×morifolium ‘Yotabitha’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,110. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom, plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of ‘Yotabitha’ in the following characteristics:

• • 1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were more mounding than and not as upright as plants of ‘Yotabitha’.
  • 2. Grown under natural season conditions, plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered later than plants of ‘Yotabitha’.
  • 3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had slightly smaller inflorescences than plants of ‘Yotabitha’.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH

The accompanying photograph illustrates the overall appearance of the new Chrysanthemum plant showing 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 top perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Fimmerred’ grown in a 19-cm container during the summer in a glass-covered greenhouse in De Lier, The Netherlands. Plants were grown under short day/long night conditions to induce inflorescence initiation and development. Plants were 3.5 months old when the photograph was taken.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The following observations and measurements describe plants grown during the winter in 14-cm containers in a glass-covered greenhouse in Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom and under cultural practices typical of commercial garden Chrysanthemum production. During the production of the plants, day and night temperatures ranged from 17° C. to 21° C. and light levels averaged 6,000 lux. Plants were grown under long day/short night conditions for six weeks and then grown under short day/long night conditions to induce inflorescence initiation and development. Plants were twelve weeks old when the detailed description was taken. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, Fifth Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

• Botanical classification: Chrysanthemum×morifolium ‘Fimmerred’.
• Parentage:
  • • Female, or seed, parent.—Proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 82970, not patented.
    • Male, or pollen, parent.—Proprietary selection of Chrysanthemum×morifolium identified as code number 83261, not patented.
• Propagation:
  • • Type.—Terminal vegetative cuttings.
    • Time to initiate roots, summer.—About ten days at temperatures about 21° C.
    • Time to initiate roots, winter.—About twelve days at temperatures about 21° C.
    • Time to produce a rooted young plant, summer.—About three weeks at temperatures about 21° C.
    • Time to produce a rooted young plant, winter.—About four weeks at temperatures about 21° C.
    • Root description.—Fine, fibrous; light brown in color.
    • Rooting habit.—Freely branching; medium density.
• Plant description:
  • • Plant and growth habit.—Herbaceous decorative-type garden Chrysanthemum; stems upright to outwardly spreading giving a uniformly mounded appearance to the plant; numerous lateral branches and relatively short internodes, dense and full plant habit; compact to moderately vigorous growth habit.
    • Plant height.—About 14 cm.
    • Plant width.—About 22 cm.
    • Branching habit.—Freely branching habit; about ten lateral branches develop after removal of terminal apex (pinching).
    • Lateral branches.—Length: About 9 cm. Diameter: About 3 mm. Internode length: About 6 mm. Strength: Strong. Aspect: About 45° from vertical. Texture: Fine pubescence. Color: Close to 195A.
• Leaf description:
  • • Arrangement.—Alternate, simple.
    • Length.—About 4.5 cm.
    • Width.—About 3 cm.
    • Shape.—Palmately-lobed; roughly ovate with three to five lobes.
    • Apex.—Broadly acuminate to mucronate.
    • Base.—Attenuate to truncate.
    • Margin.—Palmately lobed, sinuses between lateral lobes divergent; slightly dentate.
    • Texture, upper surface.—Fine pubescence; slightly rough.
    • Texture, lower surface.—Fine pubescence; veins prominent.
    • Color.—Developing leaves, upper surface: Close to 137B. Developing leaves, lower surface: Close to 137C. Fully expanded leaves, upper surface: Close to N137C; venation, close to 147B. Fully expanded leaves, lower surface: Close to 147B; venation, close to 147C.
    • Petioles.—Length: About 1.7 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Texture, upper surface: Fine pubescence; slightly rough. Texture, lower surface: Fine pubescence. Color, upper surface: Close to 138B. Color, lower surface: Close to 138C.
• Inflorescence description:
  • • Form and flowering habit.—Decorative-type inflorescence form with ligulate-shaped ray florets; inflorescences borne on terminals above and beyond the foliar plane; disc and ray florets arranged acropetally on a capitulum; freely flowering habit with about 63 inflorescences developing per plant.
    • Fragrance.—Fragrant; pungent, herbaceous.
    • Flowering response.—Mid season-flowering habit, plants exposed to natural season conditions begin flowering in mid to late September in the United Kingdom.
    • Inflorescence longevity.—Inflorescences maintain good color and substance for about three to five weeks on the plant; inflorescences persistent.
    • Inflorescence buds.—Height: About 3 mm. Diameter: About 4 mm. Shape: Oblate. Color: Close to 138A.
    • Inflorescence diameter.—About 3 cm.
    • Inflorescence height.—About 1 cm.
    • Receptacles.—Height: About 2 mm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Shape: Ovate. Color: Close to 147D.
    • Ray florets.—Orientation: Initially upright, then about 40° from vertical. Length: About 1.3 cm. Width: About 6 mm. Shape: Ligulate. Apex: Rounded or emarginate. Base: Fused into a short tube. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth, glabrous. Number of ray florets per inflorescence: About 100 arranged in about five whorls. Color: When opening, upper surface: Close to 187B. When opening, lower surface: Close to 183B. Fully opened, upper surface: Close to 59A; color becoming closer to 187C with development. Fully opened, lower surface: Close to 181A; color becoming closer to 184A with development.
    • Disc florets.—Disc floret development has not been observed on plants of the new Chrysanthemum.
    • Phyllaries.—Number of phyllaries per inflorescence: About 22 arranged in about three whorls. Length: About 6 mm. Width: About 3 mm. Shape: Ovate. Apex: Obtuse. Base: Obtuse. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper surface: Smooth, glabrous; waxy. Texture, lower surface: Fine pubescence; waxy. Color, upper surface: Close to 146B. Color, lower surface: Close to 146A.
    • Peduncles.—Length, terminal peduncle: About 3 cm. Diameter, terminal peduncle: About 1 mm. Angle: About 40° from vertical. Strength: Moderately strong; flexible. Texture: Fine pubescence. Color: Close to 138B.
    • Reproductive organs.—Androecium: None observed. Gynoecium: Pistil length: About 4 mm. Stigma shape: Bi-parted. Stigma color: Close to 12A. Style length: About 3 mm. Style color: Close to 160C. Ovary color: Close to 157B.
    • Seeds and fruits.—Seed and fruit production has not been observed on plants of the new Chrysanthemum.
• Disease & pest resistance: Resistance to pathogens and pests common to Chrysanthemum plants has not been observed on plants of the new Chrysanthemum.
• Garden performance: Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have demonstrated good garden performance and to tolerate temperatures from about 0° C. to about 35° C.

Claims

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