Horticulture Principles and Practices

Psuedobulbs
In the Dendrobium orchid, for example, roots form at the base of the offshoots. These
offshoots may be removed and transplanted.
10.14.3 SUCKERS
Suckers are adventitious shoots that arise from roots. In raspberry, the shoots are
harvested from horizontal roots and used to propagate the plant.
10.14.4 OFFSHOOTS
The variety of adventitious shoots (suckers, crown division, slips, and offsets) that arise
from the stems or roots of plants are called offshoots. The pineapple plant is quite versatile
in terms of parts that may be used to propagate the plant. The crown on top of the
fruit, slips arising from axillary buds at the base, and suckers that originate from the
lower part of the stem may all be used for propagation.
10.14.5 PLANT PATENT ACT
A patent is a tool used by the government to provide incentive for discovery and
invention of products. A plant patent may be awarded to an applicant who has “invented”
or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant (other than a
tuber propagated or a plant found in an uncultivated state). A plant patent holder is given
the right to exclude others from asexually reproducing the plant and from using, offering
for sale, or selling the plant so reproduced, or any of its parts, throughout the United
States, or from importing the plant so reproduced, or any parts thereof, into the United
States. Such rights are enforceable for a period of twenty years.
Asexual (clonal) reproduction is specifically mentioned in the act because it is a
means of preserving the genetic integrity of the product from one generation to the next.
The owner of the patent is encouraged to reproduce it asexually and make adequate
amounts of such materials available to the public.
Plant produces that qualify for patenting are sports, mutants, and hybrids. A sport is
a new and distinct variety that originates from a bud. Such spontaneous variations are distinguishable
from the appearance or characteristic of a normal plant. Seedling variation
by self-pollination may give rise to mutants, while a hybrid is a product of the crosspollination
of two unidentical plants (e g., two species, varieties). Plant seedlings discovered,
asexually reproduced, and proved to be stable, uniform, and to have new characteristics
distinct from other known plants, are patentable. The law, however, specifically excludes
plants found in an uncultivated state. The plant must not have been introduced to the public,
sold, or offered for sale, more than one year prior to the patent application.
To file for a plant patent, the patentee is required to clearly document his or her
claim in writing, describing and defining the new plant, showing its unique and distinguishing
features from known varieties, supplementing with drawings and or photographs,
and making an oath or declaration. The applicant must declare that the plant has
been reproduced asexually, or found in a cultivated area. Descriptions of the plant should
be made in standard botanical terms and include the origin or parentage of the plant, geographic
location, and the method of asexual reproduction (e.g., budding, cutting). If color
is a distinguishing feature, it must be described using a color atlas or dictionary, preferably,
The Royal Horticulture Society Color Chart.
Offshoot
The generic term for
adventitious shoots that
arise from various parts of
the plant.
SUMMARY
Apart from roots, certain species develop a variety of underground swollen structures
that are, in some cases, the economic, edible, or usable part of the plant. These modifications
may be in the roots or stem. Bulbs such as onion, daffodil, and tulip have modified
leaves that are scaly; corms such as gladiolus and crocus have modified stems that
Summary 339