U.S. patent number PP33,297 [Application Number 16/974,298] was granted by the patent office on 2021-07-27 for hosta plant named `tears in heaven`.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Walters Gardens, Inc. The grantee listed for this patent is Hans A Hansen. Invention is credited to Hans A Hansen.
United States Patent |
PP33,297 |
Hansen |
July 27, 2021 |
Hosta plant named `Tears in Heaven`
Abstract
A new and distinct Hosta plant named `Tears in Heaven` with an
arching, rounded-mound habit of dense, cordate foliage of heavy
glaucous bluish-colored above and whitish-blue below, retaining the
glaucous covering until the end of summer. Long lanceolate leaves
with sharply pointed apices and tapered base have intensely
undulate margins and the lateral edges are folded upwardly veins
with moderate dimpling between the veins and sinuate margins. The
plant has pale lavender outer tepals with the tepals inside
distinctly striped in the middle of the tepals with a darker
lavender and white on the margins. The new plant is attractive and
useful in landscaping as a specimen, in mass, or as a containerized
plant by itself or in combination with other plants.
Inventors: |
Hansen; Hans A (Zeeland,
MI) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hansen; Hans A |
Zeeland |
MI |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Walters Gardens, Inc (Zeeland,
MI)
|
Appl.
No.: |
16/974,298 |
Filed: |
December 18, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
PLT/353 |
Current International
Class: |
A01H
5/12 (20180101); A01H 6/12 (20180101) |
Field of
Search: |
;PLT/353 |
Other References
http://www.plantsgalore.com/Hostas/cultivars/t/Hosta_Tears_in_Heaven.htm
Retrieved from the Internet on Mar. 30, 2021 (3 pages total). cited
by examiner.
|
Primary Examiner: McCormick Ewoldt; Susan
Claims
It is claimed:
1. A new and distinct ornamental plant cultivar named Hosta `Tears
in Heaven` as herein described and illustrated.
Description
Latin name and variety denomination of the plant:
Botanical classification: Hosta hybrid (Tratt.).
Variety denomination: `Tears in Heaven`.
STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES UNDER 37 CFR 1.77(B)(6)
Hosta `Tears in Heaven` was first introduced by the inventor as a
non-enabling description through the International Cultivar
Registration Authority registration in early 2020. No plants of
Hosta `Tears in Heaven` have been sold, in this country or anywhere
in the world, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made,
more than one year prior to the filing date of this
application.
BACKGROUND AND ORIGIN OF THE PLANT
The present invention relates to a new and distinct Hosta plant,
Hosta `Tears in Heaven` hereinafter also referred to as the new
plant or the cultivar name, `Tears in Heaven`. Hosta `Tears in
Heaven` was hybridized at a wholesale nursery in Zeeland, Mich.,
USA in the Aug. 14, 2014 as a cross between two unreleased
proprietary hybrids known as 11-355-2 (not patented) and H10-174
(not patented) as the female and male parents, respectively. The
new plant is the selection of as a single seedling among several in
that cross identified as 14-218-1 through the trial process. The
new plant has been asexually propagated by division at the same
nursery in Zeeland, Mich., USA since 2014, and also by careful
plant shoot-tip tissue culture, with the resultant asexually
propagated plants having retained all the same traits as the
original plant.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PLANT
There are over 7,000 registered Hosta cultivars with The American
Hosta Society, which is the International Cultivar Registration
Authority for the genus Hosta along with a similar number of
unregistered cultivars. The nearest comparison cultivars known to
the inventor are: `Azure Snow` (not patented), `Joy Ride` (not
patented), `Diamond Lake` U.S. Plant Pat. No. 30,769, `Neptune`
U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,674, `Queen of the Seas` (not patented),
`Voices in the Wind` copending U.S. Plant Patent Application.
`Winfield Blue` (not patented) and `Waterslide` (U.S. Plant patent
application Ser. No. 30,303).
`Azure Snow` has more cordate and broader foliage with less
glaucous without a wavy margin, and the habit is flatter. `Joy
Ride` has a flatter habit and the leaves are not as bluish-green.
`Diamond Lake` has foliage that is more bullate, cordate with a
broader, more rounded leaf with a less pointed apex. `Neptune` is
smaller in habit and leaf size, the leaves are narrower, have a
more narrowly acute apex, with less wavy margins. `Queen of the
Seas` is more upright in habit with broader foliage having less
glaucous blue foliage and less wavy margins. `Voices in the Wind`
has variegated foliage that is more cupped or folded. `Winfield
Blue` has shorter, more cordate foliage with less wavy margin and
less folded and the apices are not as sharp. `Waterslide` is
smaller in leaf size and habit with more narrow folded foliage.
The female parent, 11-355-2, has a larger habit with less glaucous
foliage with ruffled sinuate leaf margin, but without the upward
folding. The male parent, H10-174 is smaller in habit and foliage
with longer and wider, intense glaucous blue foliage with less wavy
margins and without the upward folding.
Other Hosta cultivars have glaucous foliage, but `Tears in Heaven`
is distinct from the above listed Hostas and all other cultivars
known to the discoverer by the following combined traits: 1.
Arching, rounded-mound plant with dense foliage; 2. Lanceolate
foliage with lateral edges folded upwardly and undulate margins,
sharply pointed apices and tapered base; 3. Leaves with heavy
glaucous bluish coloring above and glaucous whitish-blue below
retained until the end of the summer; 4. Leaves have smooth top
veins; 5. Tightly-compact pale lavender flowers on arching glaucous
bluish-colored scapes above foliage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The photographs of the new plant demonstrate the overall appearance
of the new plant, including the unique traits. The colors are as
accurate as reasonably possible with color reproductions. Ambient
light spectrum, temperature, source and direction may cause the
appearance of minor variation in color.
FIG. 1 shows a top view of a six-year-old plant showing plant
habit.
FIG. 2 shows a leaf demonstrating slightly folded undulate margins,
and smooth surface.
FIG. 3 shows a close-up of the inside of the flower.
DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
The following descriptions and color references are based on the
2015 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except
where common dictionary terms are used. The new plant, Hosta `Tears
in Heaven`, has not been observed under all possible environments.
The phenotype may vary slightly with different environmental
conditions, such as temperature, light, fertility, moisture and
maturity levels, but without any change in the genotype. The
following observations and size descriptions are of a six-year-old
plant in a partially shaded trial garden in Zeeland, Mich. with
supplemental water and fertilizer. Botanical classification: Hosta
x hybrid; Parentage: Hybrid 11-355-2 comprising `Joy Ride` (not
patented), `Neptune` and `Fulda` (not patented) as the female
parent, and H10-174 comprising `Neptune` and `Winfield Blue` (not
patented) as the male parent; Propagation: Garden division and
sterile shoot-tip tissue culture; Time to initiate roots from
tissue culture: About two to three weeks; Growth rate: Rapid; Crop
time: About 10 to 12 weeks to finish during the summer in a
one-liter container from rooted tissue culture plantlet; Rooting
habit: Normal, fleshy, lightly branching; color nearest RHS NN155B
depending on soil type; Plant shape and habit: Hardy herbaceous
perennial with basal rosette of leaves emerging from rhizomes
producing a medium, symmetrical upright, low, rounded-mound of
leaves; Plant size: Foliage height about 38.1 cm above soil line to
the top of the leaves and about 71.1 cm wide at the widest point
just above the soil line; Foliage description: Lanceolate;
glabrous, heavily glaucous abaxial and adaxial; with acute to
apiculate apex and cuneate base; margin entire and sinuate; with
smooth surfaces; blades folded upward on edges, without twisting;
Leaf blade size: To about 20.3 cm long, 11.4 cm wide near base;
average about 18.5 cm long, 10.5 cm wide; Leaf blade color: Early
season and shortly after emerging adaxial nearest RHS 137A with wax
removed and between RHS N138A and RHS 188A with wax, abaxial
nearest RHS 137B with wax removed and between RHS 190A and N138C
with wax; mid-season adaxial nearest RHS 137A without wax and
between RHS 122B and RHS 188B with wax, abaxial nearest RHS 137B
with wax removed and between RHS 188C and RHS 122B with wax;
late-season adaxial nearest RHS 137A with wax removed and between
RHS N138B and RHS 188A with wax, abaxial nearest RHS 138A with wax
removed and between RHS N138C and RHS 190A with wax; Petiole:
Entire, glabrous, glabrous, concavo-convex; mostly outwardly and
straight from base of plant to leaf base with little bending or
curving, strong but flexible; to about 26.0 cm long, 11.0 mm wide
at base and 5.0 mm deep at base; Petiole color: Adaxial distally
without wax nearest RHS 137A and nearest a blend of RHS N138C and
RHS 189B with wax, adaxial proximally nearest RHS 146B with wax and
heavily maculate with between RHS N187B and RHS N186C; abaxial
center without wax nearest RHS 145C, margin nearest RHS 137B and
with wax nearest RHS 145C in center and margin between RHS N138C
and RHS 190B with wax, with heavy maculate to nearly solid
proximally of between RHS N187B and RHS N186C; Veins: Parallel,
smooth and flush with adaxial surface, abaxial slightly costate and
smooth; typically 9 to 10 pairs and one midrib; Veins color:
Adaxial between RHS N138B and RHS 188B becoming nearest RHS 146D
late in the season; abaxial between RHS 188C and RHS 122B with
midrib proximally nearest RHS 145C and distally between 188C and
RHS 122B; Flower description: Buds one day prior to opening:
Clavate with acute apex and narrow tubular base; entire bud about
45.0 mm long, with swollen distal portion about 12.0 mm diameter
and about 29.0 mm long, base tube about 16.0 mm long and about 3.5
mm diameter; buds slightly smaller distally; Bud color: Base tube
nearest RHS N82D; apical swollen portion nearest RHS N82C; Flowers:
Perfect; single; actinomorphic; funnelform; held slightly drooping
to outwardly; about 42.0 mm wide and 59.0 mm long; fused in basal
33.0 mm; corolla to about 57.0 mm long and 46.0 mm wide at apex,
tube portion about 18.0 mm long and 3.5 mm diameter (distal flowers
smaller); persists for a normal period, usually one day on plant or
as cut flower; scapes remain effective with flowers beginning late
August for about five weeks in Michigan; about 50 flowers per
scape; Floral bracts: Subtending individual flowers; lanceolate;
concavo-convex; acute apex; truncate clasping base; glaucous
adaxial and abaxial; to about 54.0 mm long and 13.0 mm wide,
decreasing distally; Floral bract color: Adaxial blend nearest RHS
138C with moderate blushing along edges of nearest RHS N77C;
abaxial between RHS 138C and RHS 194B with heavy blushing distally
and along edges of nearest RHS N77C; Flower fragrance: None
detected; Tepal: Six; typically two sets of three, glabrous,
entire; oblanceolate with acute apex and fused base; inner set
about 59.0 mm long and about 13.0 mm wide about 5.0 mm above
fusion; outer set about 59.0 mm long and 12.0 mm wide about 5.0 mm
above fusion; Tepal color: Adaxial inner set margins nearest RHS
NN155D and center stripe about 3.5 mm wide between RHS N80D and RHS
N82D with clear margins in the distal portion and corolla tube
nearest RHS NN155D in basal 8.0 mm, abaxial nearest RHS 84D
including corolla tube; adaxial outer set margins nearest RHS
NN155D and center stripe about 5.0 mm wide between RHS N80D and RHS
N82D and corolla tube basal 8.0 mm nearest RHS NN155D, abaxial
nearest RHS 84D including corolla tube; Gynoecium: Single;
tri-carpelled; 62.0 mm long; exserted; Style.--Single; terete;
approximately 56.0 mm long, 1.0 mm diameter, arcuate upward about
90 degrees in distal 10.0 mm; color base nearest RHS 2D, distally
nearest 155A. Stigma.--Globose, micro-puberulent; about 1.2 mm in
across and 1.0 mm tall; color nearest RHS 155A.
Ovary.--Ellipsoidal; slightly sulcate longitudinally; about 5.0 mm
long and 2.0 mm diameter at widest; rounded apex and truncate base;
color nearest RHS N144D. Androecium: Filaments.--Typically six;
terete; approximately 57.0 mm long and 0.8 mm in diameter; arcuate
upward about 120 degrees in the apical 10.0 mm; color base nearest
RHS 2D, nearest RHS 155A distally. Anthers.--Elliptic; dorsifixed,
longitudinally dehiscent; about 6.0 mm long and 2.5 mm wide; color
nearest RHS N186B. Pollen.--Abundant; elliptic, less than 0.1 mm
long; color nearest RHS 17A. Peduncle: Terete; usually one per
mature division and ten per plant; glaucous, glabrous; slightly
outwardly; to about 65.0 cm long, and about 8.0 mm in diameter at
base; average about 62.0 cm and 7.5 mm diameter, flowering portion
about 24.0 cm long; Peduncle color: When flowering nearest RHS
138D; Pedicel: Glabrous; glaucous; terete; secund, slightly curved
downwardly; approximately 8.0 mm long and 2.0 mm diameter,
decreasing in size distally; Pedicel color: Distal portion nearest
RHS 84D, proximally nearest RHS 138D; Fruit: Oblong ellipsoid, with
apiculate apex; tri-valved dehiscent capsule; about 35.0 cm long
and 7.0 mm diameter; color when mature nearest RHS 161C; Seed:
Typically about 30 seeds per capsule; endospermic;
flattened-elliptic wing surrounding embryo situated toward one end
of ellipse; about 8.0 mm long and 3.0 mm wide and 1.5 thick; color
nearest RHS 202A; Disease tolerance and resistance: The new plant
has not shown any resistance to pests and diseases common to
Hostas. Growth conditions: The new plant grows best and shows best
coloration with plenty of moisture, adequate drainage and light
shade, but is able to tolerate some drought when mature, and
tolerates direct sun without leaf burn, especially during the
cooler parts of the day and when provided sufficient water.
Hardiness at least from USDA zone 3 through 9, and other disease
resistance is typical of that of other Hostas.
* * * * *
References