Calibrachoa plant named ‘Cal Yel’

Genus and species: Calibrachoa spp.

Variety denomination: ‘Cal Yel’.

‘Cal Yel’ originated from a hybridization made in the year 2000 in Gilroy, Calif. The female parent was a Calibrachoa breeding line with scarlet red colored flowers known as 3-2 a proprietary line unnamed and unpatented. The male parent was Calibrachoa variety 77-3, an ivory-white proprietary line unnamed and unpatented.

‘Cal Yel’ is a product of a planned breeding program intended to create new calibrachoa plants with yellow colored flowers, compact habit, good basal branching and moderately vigorous growth.

The new cultivar was created in 2000 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif., Andijk, The Netherlands, and Guatemala over a 2 and half-year period. The plant has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif., Litchfield, Mich. and Andijk, The Netherlands. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations; and this novelty is firmly fixed.

The genus Petunia was originally established in 1803 by A. L. Jussieu, who described both P. parviflora and P. nyctaginifloa as type species. Using a non-horticultural system that selected the first mentioned species as the type species (lectotype), N. L. Britton and H. A. Brown declared P. parviflora as the type species for Petunia in 1913.

During the 1980's and 1990, H. J. Wijsman published a series of articles regarding the ancestry of P. hybrida, the Garden Petunia, and the inter-relationship of several species classified as Petunia. These studies discovered that P. hybrida and its ancestrial species, P. nyctaginiflora (= P. axillaris ) and P. violacea (= P. integrifolia ), possessed 14 pairs of chromosomes while several other species, including P. parviflora, possessed 18 pairs of chromosomes. Since P. parviflora was the lectotype species for the Petunia genus, Wijsman and J. H. de Jong proposed transferring the 14 chromosome species to the genus Stimoryne. Horticulturists opposed reclassifying the Garden Petunia and in 1986, Wijsman proposed the alternative of making P. nyctaginiflora the lectotype species for Petunia and transferring the 18 chromosome species to another genus. The I. N. G. Committee adopted this proposal. By 1990 Wijsman had transferred several species, including P. parviflora (= C. parviflora ) to Calibrachoa, originally established by Llave and Lexarza in 1825. Calibrachoa parviflora (= C. mexicana Llave & Lexarza) is now the type species for the genus Calibrachoa.

Classification of the current Petunia and Calibrachoa species is still in progress. New species are also being identified. Consequently a proper description has not been written for the Calibrachoa genus. Calibrachoa can, however, be distinguished from Petunia based on the higher chromosome number, chromosome morphology, plant branching habit and type of flower bud aestivation. Whereas Petunia species bear a flower peduncle and one new stem from a node, Calibrachoa bear a flower peduncle and three stems. Petunia species have a cochlear corolla bud, a single outermost petal covers the other four, radially folded and terminally contorted petals. Calibrachoa flower buds are flat with all five petals linearly folded and the two lower petals forming a cover around the three other petals and fused together.

The following traits and characteristics describe the new variety. The plant history was taken on 5 month old plants.

Classification:

Family.— Solanaceae.

Species.— Calibrachoa spp.

Growth:

Form.— Semi upright and decumbent.

Habit.— Good vigorous habit, well branched, full plant.

Height.— 10-20 cm.

Width.— 40-50 cm.

Time to produce a finished flowering plant.— 9-11 weeks for 4-5 inch pot.

Outdoors plant performance.— Full sun, free flowering through the summer, some heat tolerance, used as a hanging plant, in mixed container plantings, flower boxes, mass planting in a bed.

Time to initiate and develop roots.— 18-23 days.

Rood description.— White, fibrous.

Stems:

Stem color.— RHS 144A (yellow-green) little lighter.

Stem length.— 30-35 cm.

Stem diameter.— 0.2-0.3 cm.

Stem internodes length.— 0.5-2.0 cm.

Stem texture.— Many glandular hairs of various sizes.

Stem anthocyanin.— None.

Pedicel color.— RHS 144A (yellow-green) but little lighter.

Pedicel length.— 1.6-1.9 cm.

Pedicel diameter.— Less than 0.1 cm.

Pedicel texture.— Many glandular hairs of various sizes.

Leaves:

Arrangement.— Alternate, upper leaves sub-opposite.

Leaf color.— Upper side, RHS 137A (green). Underside, RHS 137C (green).

Leaf length.— 2.4-3.0 cm.

Leaf width.— 1.0-1.4 cm.

Leaf blade shape.— Elliptic.

Leaf margin.— Entire.

Leaf apex aspect.— Obtuse.

Leaf bas aspect.— Acuminate.

Leaf texture.— Many glandular hairs of various sizes.

Venation.— Pinnate.

Venation color.— RHS 144A (yellow-green).

Petiole color.— RHS 144A (yellow-green).

Petiole length.— 0.2-0.4 cm.

Petiole width.— 0.1 cm.

Petiole texture.— Many glandular hairs of various sizes.

Bud:

Color at tight bud.— RHS 1C (green-yellow).

Bud shape.— Oblong.

Bud diameter.— 0.4 cm.

Bud length.— 1.0-1.6 cm.

Flowers:

Blooming habit.— Continuous throughout the growing season. Good floriferousness.

Inflorescence type.— Flowers solitary in upper leaf axis.

Floret type.— Funnel form, 5 lobed petals, fused at base.

Young flower color.— RHS 155B (white) base color; heavily overlaid with RHS 8B and C (yellow), and blushing of 9A/B (yellow) form the corolla; light intensity of RHS 151C (yellow-green) mid-veins.

Young flower floret diameter.— 2.2-2.4 cm.

Mature flower color.— Front side, RHS 155B (white) base color, more white showing at the margins than in the young flower; overlay of RHS 8C and D (yellow), and a blushing of RHS 9A/B (yellow) from the corolla; light intensity of RHS 151D (yellow-green) mid-vein.

Mature flower color.— Underside, RHS 155D (white), but lighter base color; RHS 151C (yellow-green) mid-veins.

Corolla tube color inside.— RHS 9A and B (yellow) mingled; light intensity of RHS 151D (yellow-green) mid-vein.

Corolla tube length.— 1.3-1.5 cm to the petal flare.

Corolla outside texture.— Many glandular hairs of various sizes.

Flower ( limb ) diameter.— 2.3-2.6 cm.

Petal apex shape.— Retuse.

Petal base shape.— Fused.

Petal margin.— Entire.

Waviness of petals.— None.

Petal lobation.— Weak to moderate.

Petal texture.— Papillose.

Petals.— 5, fused at base.

Sepal color.— RHS 138A (green) basally; RHS 137A (green) Apically.

Sepal length.— 0.7-1.0 cm.

Sepal width.— 0.2 cm.

Sepal shape.— Oblong.

Sepal apex.— Acute.

Sepal texture.— Many glandular hairs of various sizes.

Lastingness of individual blooms.— 4-8 days.

Fragrance.— None.

Reproductive organs:

Stamens.— 5, 2 taller, 2 shorter, 1 very short.

Filament color.— RHS 155B (white).

Pollen color.— RHS 10B (yellow).

Pistil.— One.

Stigma color.— RHS 144B (yellow-green).

Style color.— RHS 145B (yellow-green).

Fruit seed set.— Not observed.

Disease and Insect Resistance

Not observed.

‘Cal Yel’ differs from the female parent 3-2 in the following ways: ‘Cal Yel’ has yellow flowers and 3-2 has rose-colored flowers. ‘Cal Yel’ is earlier to flower and has smaller leaves than 3-2.

‘Cal Yel’ differs from the male parent 77-3 in the following ways: ‘Cal Yel’ has yellow colored flowers and 77-3 has cream white colored flowers. ‘Cal Yel’ flowers earlier and has more basal branching than 77-3.