Petunia plant named ‘Sunremi’

Botanical designation: Petunia×hybrida.

Cultivar denomination: ‘Sunremi’.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petunia×hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Sunremi.

The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Petunias with numerous flowers with attractive flower colors.

The new Petunia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventors in March, 2000, of the Petunia cultivar Polo, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Petunia selection identified as code PAR1, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Petunia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny of the cross-pollination by the Inventors in a controlled environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan.

Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan since September, 2002 has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

Plants of the cultivar Sunremi have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature 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 ‘Sunremi’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘Sunremi’ as a new and distinct Petunia cultivar:

1. Upright, outwardly spreading, mounded and compact plant habit. 2. Vigorous and freely branching growth habit. 3. Freely flowering habit. 4. Red-colored flowers. 5. Long flowering period. 6. Good garden performance.

Plants of the new Petunia differ from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Polo, in the following characteristics:

1. Plants of the new Petunia are shorter and broader than plants of the cultivar Polo. 2. Plants of the new Petunia flower for a longer period of time than plants of the cultivar Polo.

Plants of the new Petunia differ from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:

1. Plants of the new Petunia are taller and broader than plants of the male parent selection. 2. Plants of the new Petunia have larger flowers than plants of the male parent selection.

Plants of the new Petunia can be compared to plants of the cultivar Sunpatire, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/611,359. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan, plants of the new Petunia differed from plants of the cultivar Sunpatire in the following characteristics:

1. Plants of the new Petunia were shorter than and not as broad as plants of the cultivar Sunpatire. 2. Plants of the new Petunia and the cultivar Sunpatire differed in petal coloration as plants of the cultivar Sunpatire had red purple-colored petals. 3. Plants of the new Petunia flowered longer than plants of the cultivar Sunpatire.

The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new cultivar, showing 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 Petunia.

The photograph at the top of the sheet comprises a side perspective view of a typical flowering plant of ‘Sunremi’ grown in a container.

The photograph at the bottom of the sheet comprises a close-up view of typical flowers of ‘Sunremi’.

The aforementioned photographs and following observations and measurements describe plants grown in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan, in 15-cm containers for about four months in an outdoor nursery during the spring and early summer with day temperatures about 22° C. and night temperatures about 12° C. Plants were pinched one time in the early spring. Color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 2001 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

Botanical classification: Petunia×hybrida cultivar Sunremi. Parentage:

Female, or seed, parent.—Petunia×hybrida cultivar Polo, not patented. Male, or pollen, parent.— Proprietary Petunia×hybrida selection identified as code PAR1, not patented.

Propagation:

Type cutting.— Terminal vegetative cuttings. Time to initiate roots.— About one week at 20 to 25° C. Time to develop roots.— About three weeks at 20 to 25° C. Root description.— Fine, fibrous, fleshy; light brown in color. Rooting habit.— Freely branching.

Plant description:

Plant and growth habit.— Annual flowering plant; indeterminate; upright, outwardly spreading, mounded and compact plant habit. Viscid and glandular pubescent. Vigorous growth habit. Freely branching habit with lateral branches developing potentially at every node. Plant height.— About 16.8 cm. Plant diameter.— About 35.6 cm. Lateral branches.— Length: About 18.8 cm. Diameter: About 2.5 mm. Internode length: About 1 cm. Texture: Pubescent. Color: 143C. Foliage description.— Arrangement: Alternate, simple; sessile. Length: About 5.6 cm. Width: About 2.7 cm. Shape: Ovate. Apex: Acute. Base: Cuneate. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Pubescent; viscid. Venation pattern: Pinnate; reticulate. Color: Developing and fully expanded foliage, upper surface: 137A. Developing and fully expanded foliage, lower surface: 137C. Venation, upper and lower surfaces: Similar to lamina.

Flower description:

Flower type and habit.— Single salverform flowers; flowers face mostly upward or outward; axillary. Flowers not persistent. Freely flowering habit. Natural flowering season.— Long flowering period, plants flower from spring through late autumn in Japan; flowering continuous during this period. Flower longevity on the plant.— About five days. Fragrance.— None detected. Flower size.— Diameter: About 5.5 cm. Length: About 4.7 cm. Flower buds.— Length: About 4.3 cm. Diameter: About 5.7 mm. Shape: Cylindrical. Color: 177D. Corolla.— Quantity/arrangement: Five petals; fused, funnelform. Petal length: About 2.3 cm. Petal width: About 2.7 cm. Petal shape: Broadly obovate. Petal apex: Cuspidate. Petal margin: Entire; undulate. Petal texture, upper and lower surfaces: Smooth; satiny. Color: Petal, when developing and fully expanded, upper surface: 46B. Petal, when developing and fully expanded, lower surface: 48C. Flower throat (inside): 160C; venation, 166A. Flower tube (outside): 177D. Sepals.— Arrangement/appearance: Single whorl of five sepals fused at base, star-shaped. Length: About 1.5 cm. Width: About 3 mm. Shape: Narrowly oblong. Apex: Obtuse. Margin: Entire. Texture, upper and lower surfaces: Pubescent. Color, immature, upper and lower surfaces: 137C. Color, mature, upper and lower surfaces: 137C. Peduncles.— Length: About 2.7 cm. Width: About 1 mm. Strength: Moderately strong. Texture: Pubescent. Color: 143C. Reproductive organs.— Stamens: Quantity: Five per flower. Anther shape: Ellipsoidal. Anther length: About 2 mm. Anther color: 155B. Pollen amount: Moderate. Pollen color: 11D. Pistils: Quantity: One per flower. Pistil length: About 1.6 cm. Style length: About 1.8 cm. Style color: 145B. Stigma shape: Elliptic. Stigma color: 144A. Ovary color: 144B. Seeds.— Seed development has not been observed.

Disease/pest resistance: Plants of the new Petunia have not been noted to be resistant to specific pathogens and pests common to Petunia. Garden performance: Plants of the new Petunia have been observed to have good garden performance and tolerate rain, wind and tolerated temperatures from 5 to 35° C.