plant named ‘UF-Ea-0311’

A new and distinct cultivar of Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) plant named ‘UF-Ea-0311’, particularly distinguished by unique cordate shaped leaves having a broad, white center coloration mixed with streaks of yellow green and green, robust and compact growth habit, and predominantly white colored stems with streaks of green, is disclosed.

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Description

Genus and species: Epipremnum aureum.

Cultivar denomination: ‘UF-Ea-0311’.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

N/A.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FEDERAL RESEARCH SUPPORT

N/A.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW CULTIVAR

Epipremmim Schott, commonly known as Pothos, belongs in the family Araceae and is native to the southeast Asian and Solomon Islands in the Pacific. Epipremmim has about 10 species, but only E. aureum or E. pinnatum ‘Aureum’ (Boyce, 1998) has been widely grown as an ornamental and is among the most popular foliage plants worldwide. Pothos is an important foliage plant in the commercial trade. Based on the USDA Floriculture Crops Statistics, the wholesale value of Pothos in 2018 was $22.89 million. It ranked as the third among all cultivated foliage plant genera. With the increased popularity of “living walls” since 2010, pothos has been the highest in-demand indoor foliage plant, especially demand for cultivars with contrasting and bright foliage colors. Prior to 2009, there have been only four cultivars available in commercial trade, ‘Golden Pothos’ (unpatented), ‘Marble Queen’ (unpatented), ‘Jade’ (unpatented), and ‘Neon’ (unpatented). In 2009, two new Pothos cultivars were released, namely, ‘UFM10’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,930, commercial name Green Genie™, owned by Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.) and ‘UFM12’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,217, commercial name Pearls and Jade®, registered trademark of Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.). These two cultivars are the result of mutation breeding through exposure to gamma ray radiation.

Pothos has bisexual flowers like its relatives of Anthurium and Spathiphyllum but rarely flowers in nature. Thus, Pothos is propagated predominantly through single or double eye stem or vine cuttings. As a result, there have been no literature reports of Pothos breeding through hybridization. Since Pothos breeding through conventional hybridization is difficult, a new method was initiated for developing new Pothos cultivars through selection of mutants from regenerated populations. Pothos was first successfully regenerated from leaf and petiole explants in 2002, and subsequently, methods for regeneration of ‘Golden Pothos’ through direct somatic embryogenesis was accomplished in 2005, ‘Marble Queen’ in 2012, and as well as other Pothos cultivars. The established regeneration systems were used for isolation of mutants.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Pothos plant named ‘UF-Ea-0311’. The new cultivar ‘UF-Ea-0311’ originated from a regenerated population of ‘UFM12’. Leaf explants of ‘UFM12’ were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 9 μM N-phenyl-N′-1,2,3-thiadiazol-5-ylurea (TDZ) and 1 μM α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Somatic embryos directly occurred on the leaf surface and on the cut ends in 4-6 weeks. Subsequent embryo conversion resulted in plantlets four weeks later. Variegated plantlets were selected and transplanted into plug trays filled with a substrate in a shaded greenhouse for acclimatization. Selected plants were potted in 15-cm pots for evaluation. ‘UF-Ea-0311’ was selected as a single plant from said regenerated population in March 2014 in Apopka, Florida due to its unique leaf shape and leaf color patterning.

The new cultivar ‘UF-Ea-0311’ was first propagated asexually by vegetative stem cuttings in October 2014 in Apopka, Florida and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations for 7 years.

Plant Breeder's Rights for the new cultivar ‘UF-Ea-0311’ have not been applied for, and ‘UF-Ea-0311’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.

The new cultivar ‘UF-Ea-0311’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new cultivar may vary with variations in environment and cultural practices such as temperature, light intensity, fertilization, irrigation, and application of plant growth regulators without any change in genotype.

The following are the most outstanding and distinguishing characteristics of ‘UF-Ea-0311’ when grown under normal horticultural practices in Apopka, Florida: Cordate shaped leaves having a broad, white center coloration mixed with streaks of yellow green and green; robust and very compact growth habit; and predominantly whited colored stems with streaks of green.

When compared to the parent Pothos plant ‘UFM12’, ‘UF-Ea-0311’ is also compact but has larger leaves that are cordate in shape, whereas ‘UFM12’ has smaller leaves that are aristate in shape. Additionally, ‘UF-Ea-0311’ has a broad center leaf coloration of white, whereas ‘UFM12’ has a center leaf coloration of green-white to greyed-green in irregular sized patches. Further, ‘UF-Ea-0311’ has stems that are predominantly white with green streaking, whereas ‘UFM12’ has stems that are predominantly green with white streaking.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

This new Pothos cultivar ‘UF-Ea-0311’ is illustrated by the accompanying photographs, which show the plant's form and foliage. The colors shown are as true as can be reasonably obtained by conventional photographic procedures. The photographs are of 6-month old plants grown from unrooted cuttings in May 2018 in a shaded greenhouse in Apopka, Florida.

FIG. 1 shows the growth habit, form, and foliage of the new Pothos cultivar UF-Ea-0311;

FIG. 2 shows a side-by-side comparison of the adaxial surface of a leaf of ‘UF-Ea-0311’ (right) and ‘UFM12’ (left); and

FIG. 3 shows a side-by-side comparison of a stem of ‘UF-Ea-0311’ (right) and ‘UFM12’ (left).

 DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CULTIVAR

Foliage color was determined under full sun conditions in the middle of the day in a shaded greenhouse with 75% light exclusion. Color references are to The R.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society of London (R.H.S.), 2007 5th Edition. The following detailed description of ‘UF-Ea-0311’ was obtained using six-month old plants grown from unrooted cuttings in May 2018 in a shaded greenhouse in Apopka, Florida. The plants were propagated in mist for 21 days after cuttings were stuck, then grown in 20-cm (8″) diameter pots with approximately 20 cuttings per pot for approximately 23 additional weeks.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

  • Botanical classification:
      • Family.—Araceae.
      • Botanical name.—Epipremnum aureum.
      • Common name.—Pothos.
      • Cultivar.—‘UF-Ea-0311’.
  • Plant description:
      • Plant type.—Perennial tropical vine.
      • Growth habit.—Compact and trailing.
      • Height from soil level to top of foliar plane.—Approximately 24 cm.
      • Growth rate.—Medium slow.
      • Branching characteristics.—One main stem (vine), weak basal branching.
      • Vine length.—Approximately 22 cm on a 3-month-old stem.
      • Vine diameter.—Approximately 0.5 cm.
      • Internode length.—2 to 2.5 cm.
      • Texture of vines.—Glabrous and striated.
      • Shape of vines.—Predominantly round and slightly flattened on one side.
      • Color of vines.—White (NN155D) with light green (141C) to deep green (141A) streaks.
      • Number of leaves per vine.—9 to 11 on a 3-month-old vine.
  • Propagation:
      • Type cuttings.—Vegetative stem cuttings having at least 1 node.
      • Time to initiate roots.—21 days.
      • Time to produce a rooted cutting.—20 weeks after root establishment.
      • Root habit.—One aerial root oriented downwards and present at each stem node, aerial roots produce fine roots when in contact with soil.
      • Root description.—Aerial roots are about 3 cm in length and 2 mm in diameter, colored brown (165A), soil roots are about 0.5 mm in diameter and colored white (NN155D).
  • Foliage description:
      • Arrangement.—Alternate.
      • Attachment.—Petiolate.
      • Leaf.—Shape: Cordate. Length: 6 to 7 cm. Width: About 7 cm. Apex shape: Broadly cuspidate. Base shape: Slightly cordate. Texture (upper surface): Glabrous and slightly leathery. Texture (lower surface): Glabrous and slightly leathery. Orientation: Newer leaves are held erect and upwards, mature leaves are held erect and horizontal. Margins: Entire, undulating and slightly folded downwards at the edges. Color: On mature leaves, bright white (NN155D), green-white (157A), greyed-green (189B), and green (137A) in irregular patches; the white patches in young and recently fully-expanded leaves often appear light-yellow (157D), whereas the white patches on older leaves have green dots (130A) or marble greenish (130A) lines; the variegation is visible on both the adaxial and abaxial surfaces, but the greyed-green (191A) may not be visible on the abaxial side of older leaves. Leaf sheen: Upper surface: Slightly shiny. Lower surface: Slightly shiny. Venation: Pattern: Eucamptodromous. Color (both upper and lower surfaces): White (NN155D) or green (141A).
      • Petiole.—Length: 6 to 9 cm. Width: Approximately 0.4 cm. Color: White (NN155D) with green (RHS 134A) streaks.
  • Inflorescence: None observed to date.
  • Fruit and seed set: None observed to date.
  • Disease and insect resistance: None observed to date.
  • Cold tolerance: Tolerant down to 5° C.
  • Drought tolerance: Tolerant.

COMPARISON WITH KNOWN CULTIVARS

‘UFM12’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,217, commercial name Pearls and Jade®) is the best commercial comparison. When compared to ‘UFM12’, the new cultivar ‘UF-Ea-0311’ is also compact but has larger leaves that are cordate in shape, whereas ‘UFM12’ has smaller leaves that are aristate in shape. Additionally, ‘UF-Ea-0311’ has a broad center leaf coloration of white, whereas ‘UFM12’ has a center leaf coloration of green-white to greyed-green in irregular sized patches. Further, ‘UF-Ea-0311’ has stems that are predominantly white with green streaking, whereas ‘UFM12’ has stems that are predominantly green with white streaking.

Claims

1. A new and distinct Epipremnum plant named ‘UF-Ea-0311’ as illustrated and described herein.

Referenced Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
PP20930 April 13, 2010 Henny et al.
PP21217 August 17, 2010 Henny et al.
Patent History
Patent number: PP35875
Type: Grant
Filed: Sep 22, 2023
Date of Patent: Jun 18, 2024
Assignee: Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc. (Marianna, FL)
Inventor: Jianjun Chen (Lake Mary, FL)
Primary Examiner: Susan McCormick Ewoldt
Application Number: 18/371,590
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Herbaceous Ornamental Foliage Plant (PLT/373)
International Classification: A01H 5/12 (20180101); A01H 6/10 (20180101);