U.S. patent number PP32,706 [Application Number 16/602,154] was granted by the patent office on 2020-12-29 for cornus kousa tree named `melissa's mountain snowfall`.
This patent grant is currently assigned to UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH FOUNDATION. The grantee listed for this patent is UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH FOUNDATION. Invention is credited to Sarah Lynn Boggess, Robert N. Trigiano.
United States Patent |
PP32,706 |
Trigiano , et al. |
December 29, 2020 |
Cornus kousa tree named `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`
Abstract
A new and distinct cultivar of flowering dogwood tree, which has
fused bracts is provided. This dogwood tree is botanically known as
Cornus kousa and referred to by the following cultivar name:
`Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`.
Inventors: |
Trigiano; Robert N. (Knoxville,
TN), Boggess; Sarah Lynn (Knoxville, TN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH FOUNDATION |
Knoxville |
TN |
US |
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Assignee: |
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH
FOUNDATION (Knoxville, TN)
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Family
ID: |
72661510 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/602,154 |
Filed: |
August 15, 2019 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20200323118 P1 |
Oct 8, 2020 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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62830688 |
Apr 8, 2019 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
PLT/220 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01H
5/02 (20130101); A01H 6/00 (20180501); A01H
5/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01H
5/02 (20180101); A01H 6/00 (20180101); A01H
5/04 (20180101) |
Field of
Search: |
;PLT/220 |
Other References
Wadl, P. A. et al. "Three New Cultivars of Cornus kousa: Empire,
Pam's Mountain Bouquet, and Red Steeple" HortScience, Sep. 2014,
pp. 1230-1233, vol. 49, No. 9. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Hwu; June
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Saliwanchik, Lloyd &
Eisenschenk
Government Interests
This invention was made with Government support under Contract No.
NACA-58-6062-6 awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The
Government has certain rights in the invention.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A new and distinct cultivar of Dogwood tree, Cornus kousa, named
`Melissa's MOUNTAIN Snowfall`, as illustrated and described.
Description
Latin name of the genus and species: Cornus kousa.
Variety denomination: `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`.
The Sequence Listing for this application is labeled "Seq-List.txt"
which was created on Nov. 1, 2019 and is 4 KB. The entire content
of the sequence listing is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and distinct dogwood
cultivar, which has fused bracts. This dogwood is botanically known
as Cornus kousa `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`, hereinafter referred
to as `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`. The unique characteristic of
this variety is the non-overlapping fusion of the bracts, shape of
the tree, and bark characteristics.
This new dogwood cultivar was discovered in a planting of seedlings
in the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
`Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` is a half-sibling of `Pam's Mountain
Bouquet` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,575; Wadl et al., 2014,
HortScience 49(9):1230-1233). Asexual reproduction of `Melissa's
Mountain Snowfall` in Belvidere, Tenn. was by axillary bud grafting
onto a generic Cornus kousa seedling rootstock and has shown that
the unique features of this new dogwood cultivar are stable and
reproduced true-to-type in successive vegetative generations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1. Photograph of a `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` tree that is
approximately 30 years old. The spread of this tree is about 7
meters. Colors in the photograph may differ from actual colors due
to lighting and light reflectance.
FIG. 2. Photograph of enlarged view of bracts on `Melissa's
Mountain Snowfall`.
FIG. 3. Photograph of the unripe fruit of `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall`. Also shown are the paper collars of the dried bracts
that remain on the petioles and around the fruit.
FIG. 4. Photograph of the ripe fruit of `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall`.
FIG. 5. Photograph showing the exfoliating bark on the trunk of
older specimens of `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY
A new and distinct cultivar of flowering dogwood having fused
bracts is provided. This dogwood tree cultivar is botanically known
as Cornus kousa and referred to by the cultivar name: `Melissa's
Mountain Snowfall`. This cultivar exhibits insect resistance and
disease resistance, particularly to powdery mildew caused by
Erysiphe pulchra. Dogwood anthracnose caused by Discula destructiva
has never been observed on `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`.
The subject cultivar is different compared to the Cornus kousa
varieties `Red Steeple` and `Empire`. The following Table 1 sets
forth the difference between these cultivars and `Melissa's
Mountain Snowfall`:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Characteristics of `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall` compared with two similar cultivars `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall` `Red Steeple` `Empire` Habit Spreading Narrow Linear -
short Narrow linear Tall columnar Columnar Fused Bracts Non-fused
bracts Non-fused bracts Large Bracts white Small bracts - some pink
Small bracts margin
This new and distinct dogwood tree cultivar was discovered in a
planting of seedlings within the Arboretum at the University of
Tennessee located in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The subject dogwood tree
cultivar is a half-sibling of the Cornus kousa dogwood cultivar
known as `Pam's Mountain Bouquet`. Table 2 shows the observed
phenotypic similarities and differences between the two
cultivars.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 General phenotypic differences between the
dogwood cultivars `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` and `Pam's Mountain
Bouquet`. `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` `Pam's Mountain Bouquet`
About 80% of all bracts on the About 82% of all bracts on the
cultivar exhibit some degree of fusion cultivar exhibit some degree
of fusion Resistance to Disease and Resistance to Disease and
Insect Damage Insect Damage Exfoliating bark in older specimens**
No exfoliating bark Inverted pyramidal growth habit** Spreading
growth habit Multiple leaders** Single leader Six meters in
height** 3-4 meters in height (** = Key differences)
In addition to the phenotypic differences listed above, it has also
been observed that the alleles of the two cultivars differ at 5 of
8 selected loci. Asexual reproduction of `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall` by grafting of axillary buds onto generic Cornus kousa
seedling rootstocks has shown that the unique features of this new
dogwood cultivar are stable and reproduced true-to-type in
successive generations.
DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
The following observations, measurements and comparisons describe
the cultivar `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` grown in Oak Ridge,
Tenn. Trees used for this description were about thirty (30) years
old. Plant hardiness is expected to be zones 3-9. The color
characteristic descriptions use color references to The Royal
Horticultural Society (R.H.S.) Colour Chart, The Royal
Horticultural Society, London, UK, 4.sup.th Edition, 2001, except
where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.
It has been determined that alleles differ at 5 of 8 loci shared by
`Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` and `Pam's Mountain Bouquet`, as
shown in Table 3.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Allelic Comparison of `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall` and `Pam's Mountain Bouquet` at specified loci `Melissa's
Mountain `Pam's Mountain Snowfall` Bouquet` Locus (bp size for each
allele) (bp size for each allele) CK005* 228:228 222:247 CK072*
113:122 113:117 CK058* 152:152 148:148 CK031 140:140 140:140 CK040*
102:102 94:94 CK029 90:102 90:102 CK015* 119:122 130:136 CK047
128:128 128:128
Table 4 indicates the primer sequences and microsatellite markers
(or single sequence repeats--SSR) in `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall`
compared with the same microsatellite markers (SSR) in `Pam's
Mountain Bouquet.` Those loci indicated with an asterisk (*) differ
between the two cultivars.
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Primer Sequences and Microsatellite markers
compared between `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` and `Pam's Mountain
Bouquet` GenBank Microsatellite Repeat Sequences Accession Repeat
No. Locus Primer Sequence (5'-3') Motif EU544308 CK005*
F:GCATTTGTCCTTTGTTTGACAT (AC).sub.20 (SEQ ID 1)
R:TTTTTCGCGAAGTGTTCTCTAC (SEQ ID 2) EU125523 CK015*
F:GTCAAATTTTTGATCTTTCTCTCT (CT).sub.10 (SEQ ID 3)
R:GGAGAGACAGAGTACAGTAGAGGT (SEQ ID 4) EU125524 CK029
F:AATTTAGGTTAAGGTTTTGATTTG (TC).sub.8 (SEQ ID 5)
R:AGAGAGAATAGGTTACAGCATCAT (SEQ ID 6) EU125525 CK031
F:TGTCACTGCTTACAGAAACAAT (CT).sub.7 (SEQ ID 7)
R:TATGACGAGATTGTATAAGTTGCT (SEQ ID 8) EU125526 CK040*
F:CCAAGTCAGTTTGGTAGTAATTC (GT).sub.16 (SEQ ID 9)
R:AGTGCAACTTTTACTTGCTATGT (SEQ ID 10) EU544309 CK058*
F:CTTAAGTCACAAAGACAATGAAAT (GT).sub.10 (SEQ ID 11)
R:AAGAGAGTTCAGATTTATCTTTGC (SEQ ID 12) EU544312 CK072*
F:AGCACTCATAGTCCTTGCAC (GT).sub.10 (SEQ ID 13)
R:GTTAAAACGAAGAAGATACAACAA (SEQ ID 14) EU125528 CK047
F:GAAAGAGATAAAAGATGGTTCAAT (AC).sub.6 (SEQ ID 15)
R:CTTATAGAGTAAGCCCACCATC (SEQ ID 16)
The cultivar `Melissa's Mountain Snowfall` has some similarity in
phenotypic characteristics to the cultivar `Pam's Mountain Bouquet`
(Wadl et al., 2014). The following Table 5 provides a comparison of
each cultivar for those characteristics that have been observed.
Measurements are provided as an average (with ranges also provided
as indicated):
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Characteristics of `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall` and Pam's Mountain Bouquet` Color Descriptions are based
upon the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) colour chart, 4.sup.th
Edition 2001. `Melissa's Mountain `Pam's Mountain Character
Snowfall` Bouquet` 1 Tree form Inverted pyramidal spreading
(observation) 2 Tree height 5-6 meters height low (observation) and
about a 7 meter (about 3-4 spread meters; spread about 4-5 meters,
and dependent on age and environment) 3 Branch thickness Medium
Variable, medium (measurement) dependent on age (age dependent)
Thickness in the middle portion of a plant 4 Color of current Green
144A turning Green Shoot Greyed-Green 197A 143B (observation)
Current shoot color in the middle portion of a plant 5 Branch color
Mixture of 156A, Greyed-Green (observation) 197B, 198B, 200C 198B
Current branch and 200D color in the middle portion of a plant by
second year 6 Dark spots on Absent Absent Branch (observation)
Presence of dark spots on the branch 7 Branching High High
(observation) Density of branching 8 Internode length Mostly short,
but Short (measurement) some intermediate Internode length
(variable + 6-9 cm) in the middle portion of a plant 9 Whole shape
of Obovate Obovate leaves (observation) see FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 Whole
shape of a leaf in the middle portion of a plant 10 Shape of leaf
Acuminate Acuminate tip (observation) see FIG. 2 Tip shape of a
leaf in the middle portion of a plant 11 Shape of leaf Truncate
Truncate Base (observation) see FIG. 2 Base shape of a leaf in the
middle portion of a plant 12 Shape of leaf Entire Entire Margin
(observation) Shape of a leaf margin in the middle portion of a
plant 13 Leaf rolling Typically none, but Rolling inward
(observation) see some inward Fig. 4 14 Leaf curvature Mostly flat
Flat (observation) 15 Leaf margin Some leaves None Undulation
undulating (observation) 16 Leaf length Averages 87.1 mm Long
(measurement) (about 100-400 Length from the mm) tip to the base of
mature leaf 17 Leaf width Mean 44.4 mm Narrow (measurement) (about
40-50 The maximum mm) width of mature leaf 18 Leaf thickness Medium
Medium (observation) Thickness of mature leaf 19 Bud color Green
138B, Greyed-red (observation) unopened; 179A Color of bud just
Green 132D, opened; after sprouting infrequently Yellow- Green 151C
20 Immature leaf Not observed Green color (observation) 135B 21
Presence of Absent Absent anthocyanin (observation) Coloration by
anthocyanin on the immature leaf upperside 22 Color of leaf Green
143A Green upperside 143B (observation) Color of mature leaf
upperside 23 Color of leaf Green 143B; Yellow-Green Lower side
Green 143C 146B (observation) Color of mature leaf lower side 24
Seasonal change Changed Changed of a mature leaf (observation) 25
Color of leaves in Yellow to Red Red autumn (observation)
(Variable) Changes 10C-46A in Leaf Fall Color 10C-46A 26 Leaf
variegation Not variegated Not variegated (observation) Variegation
on leaf upper side 27 Variegation NA NA pattern (observation)
Pattern of variegation on a leaf upperside 28 Variegation color NA
NA (observation) 29 Seasonal change NA NA of variegation color
(observation) 30 Hair on leaf None None upperside (observation)
Hair density on a mature leaf upperside 31 Hair on leaf None None
lowerside (observation) Hair density on a mature leaf lowerside 32
Petiole length Short about 10.4 Short (measurement) mm; unequal at
base, (about 15-25 Length from the base about 5-7 mm longer mm) of
blade to the on one side base petiole 33 Petiole width Medium
(<7 mm) Medium (measurement) (<8 mm) The maximum width of a
mature leaf petiole 34 Petiole color Green 143A-143C Green
(observation) 143B 35 Inflorescence type Umbel Umbel (observation)
36 Inflorescence Upright Upright direction (observation) 37
Inflorescence Average about 31.7 Medium diameter mm (diagonal mean
(observation) length = 74 mm; mean width = 53 mm) 38 Flower
diameter Small; Each about 5- Small (measurement) 7 mm 39 Floret
color Yellow-Green 151A Yellow-Green (observation) 150C 40 Bract
type 80% are fused, but 83% are fused, (observation) variable (See
Table but variable 6) (See Table 2) 41 Uniformity of Not uniform
Not uniform bract size (observation) 42 Bract overlapping No
overlap of No overlap of (observation) unfused bracts unfused
bracts 43 Bract orientation Recurved, Reflexed, Recurved,
(observation) or Flat Reflexed, or Flat 44 Bract rolling Varies
(may roll Varies (may roll (observation) inward or outward) inward
or outward) 45 Degree of bract Medium Strong rolling (observation)
46 Bract curvature Varies Varies (observation) (can be recurved,
(can be recurved, flat, or reflexed) flat, or reflexed) 47 Bract
twisting None None (observation) 48 Whole shape of Ovate Ovate
bracts (observation) 49 Shape of bract Acuminate Acuminate apex
(observation) 50 Unfused bract length Inner Bract Average Medium
(measurement) 48 mm; Outer Bract Average 43 mm 51 Unfused Bract
width Inner Bract Average (measurement) 27 mm; Outer Bract Average
28 mm 52 Number of bracts 4 FUSED; Diameter FUSED, but 4
(measurement) average 89.5 mm, all four bracts fused, after
flowering remains as a papery collar (Grey-Brown 199D) at base of
the petiole 53 Bract color Green-White 157B White 155A
(measurement) (immature: Green- White 157A) 54 Bract variegation
Not variegated Not variegated (observation) 55 Variegation NA NA
pattern (observation) 56 Variegation color NA NA (measurement) 57
Pistil color Yellow green 148C Yellow green (observation) (Not
coded) 58 Stigma color Green Dark Green (observation) (N138B) (Not
Coded) 59 Peduncle Medium Medium thickness (measurement) 60
Peduncle length Average 69 mm Long (measurement) (mean of 68 mm) 61
Peduncle color Green 143C Yellow-Green (observation) 144B 62 Fruit
shape Globose Globose (observation) 63 Fruit length About 28.7-29.3
mm Medium (measurement) (about 40 mm) 64 Fruit width About
28.7-29.3 mm Medium (measurement) (about 4.0 mm) 65 Fruit color
Green 134N, Fall; Unripe: Green 143B; (observation) Red- Ripe:
Orange-Red Purple 60D-61A, 33B to 43A. Highly when ripe in variable
depending October on ripeness 66 Fragrance (observation) None
Absent 67 Seed fertility Not observed High (observation) 68 Time to
the first Medium Medium flowering (observation) (Mid-April-late
(April-mid-May) May) 69 Blooming habit Prolific Many
(observation) 70 Flowering season One season One season
(observation) flowering 71 Flowering time About 5-6 weeks About 5-6
weeks (observation) 72 Deciduous or Deciduous Deciduous evergreen
(observation) 73 Cold hardiness To -20.degree. C. Medium
(observation) (to -20.degree. C.-no effect) 74 Heat tolerance
Strong Strong (observation) (to 40.degree. C.-no (to 40.degree.
C.-no effect) effect) 75 Pest resistance No specific pests Strong
(observation) noted some leaf (no spots of brown specific pests
anthracnose noted) (Unidentified etiology - no control measures
necessary) Brown N200A 76 Disease resistance Strong resistant to
Strong resistant (observation) dogwood to dogwood anthracnose and
anthracnose and powdery mildew; powdery mildew; some spot some spot
anthracnose anthracnose especially on bracts especially on bracts
77 Bark color Exfoliating bark Greyed-Green Greyed-Orange 198B 177B
and Green 143C; exfoliating areas Greyed-Brown 199C-199D 78 Bark
texture Exfoliating Smooth 79 Angle of emerging
20.degree.-35.degree. from 20.degree.-30.degree. from branches
vertical stem vertical stem 80 Time to first leaf bud Mid- to
late-April Mid- to late-April burst 81 Leaf Vein color Yellow-Green
145B Greyed-Green (bottom side) 192A 82 Immature Leaf color Similar
to fully Similar to fully expanded leaf color expanded leaf color
83 Bract base Truncate Truncate 84 Bract margin Entire Entire 85
Vestiture Puberulous, Puberulous, reticulate reticulate 86 Flower/
Mean = 31 Mean = 34 inflorescence number 87 Seed shape Flattened
along Flattened along length length 88 Seed color Greyed Yellow
Greyed Yellow 162D 162D 89 Seed number 0-17 per fruit 0-17 per
fruit 90 Bloom duration 3-5 weeks 3-5 weeks (dried, dead bracts
(dried, dead are retained as a bracts are "collar" on peduncle
retained as a until fruit fall in " collar" on Autumn) peduncle
until fruit fall in Autumn) 91 Time of fruit ripening Begins
mid-August Begins mid- to and Ripe in October late-August through
October 92 Trunk diameter Multiple stem 18 cm at 15 years (at base)
variable. About 10- of age 14 cm; numerous lenticels 93 Anther
color Purple N79B Greyed-purple N186A 94 Flower petal color
Yellow-green Yellow-green 145C 145C 95 Style/Stigma Inconspicuous
Inconspicuous description
Botanical classification: Cornus kousa `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall`. Unique features: This tree features prolific flowering
and exhibits fused bracts. About 80% of all bracts on the cultivar
exhibit some degree of fusion (one side, two sides or three to four
sides being fused), as shown in Table 6.
TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Types of fused bracts observed on `Melissa's
Mountain Bouquet` Year Not fused Two sides fused 3 sides fused
Fully Fused 2016 (n = 29 (29%) 23 (23%) 17 (17%) 32 (32%) 101) 2017
(n = 39 (27%) 28 (19%) 33 (23%) 45 (31%) 145) 2019 (n = 7 (6%) 12
(10%) 14 (11%) 90 (73%) 123) Mean 25 (20.7%) 21 (17.3%) 21 (17.0%)
55.7 (45.3%)
Disease susceptibility: None noted. Powdery mildew caused by
Erysiphe pulchra was not observed. There was some minor occurrence
of spot anthracnose on bracts caused by Elsinoe cornii observed in
2017-2019. Most spots were discrete, less than 1 cm in diameter and
various hues in the red-purple group N74C-D. Cold damage may also
result in discoloration of bracts similar to spot anthracnose or
over larger areas. Dogwood anthracnose caused by Discula
destructiva has never been observed on `Melissa's Mountain
Snowfall`. Insect damage: Minor insect damage on leaves.
REFERENCES
Wadl, P. A., M. T. Windham, R. E. Evans, and R. N. Trigiano. 2014.
Three new cultivars of Cornus kousa: Empire, Pam's Mountain
Bouquet, and Red Steeple. HortScience 49(9):1230-1233.
SEQUENCE LISTINGS
1
16122DNAArtificial SequenceForward primer sequence 1gcatttgtcc
tttgtttgac at 22222DNAArtificial SequenceReverse primer sequence
2tttttcgcga agtgttctct ac 22324DNAArtificial SequenceForward primer
sequence 3gtcaaatttt tgatctttct ctct 24424DNAArtificial
SequenceReverse primer sequence 4ggagagacag agtacagtag aggt
24524DNAArtificial SequenceForward primer sequence 5aatttaggtt
aaggttttga tttg 24624DNAArtificial SequenceReverse primer sequence
6agagagaata ggttacagca tcat 24722DNAArtificial SequenceForward
primer sequence 7tgtcactgct tacagaaaca at 22824DNAArtificial
SequenceReverse primer sequence 8tatgacgaga ttgtataagt tgct
24923DNAArtificial SequenceForward primer sequence 9ccaagtcagt
ttggtagtaa ttc 231023DNAArtificial SequenceReverse primer sequence
10agtgcaactt ttacttgcta tgt 231124DNAArtificial SequenceForward
primer sequence 11cttaagtcac aaagacaatg aaat 241224DNAArtificial
SequenceReverse primer sequence 12aagagagttc agatttatct ttgc
241320DNAArtificial SequenceForward primer sequence 13agcactcata
gtccttgcac 201424DNAArtificial SequenceReverse primer sequence
14gttaaaacga agaagataca acaa 241524DNAArtificial SequenceForward
primer sequence 15gaaagagata aaagatggtt caat 241622DNAArtificial
SequenceReverse primer sequence 16cttatagagt aagcccacca tc 22
* * * * *