47. Volume 14- Number 2 - IP Australia

PLANT VARIETIES JOURNAL 2001 VOL 14 NO. 2
propagated by vegetative cuttings from elite stock plants
from disease indexed tissue cultures. Marketed in Australia
under the Babylon brand name. Breeder: H Stemkens,
Enkhuizen, The Netherlands.
Choice of Comparators Initially ‘Charmena’,
‘Sunmariripi’ A syn Coral Pink A , ‘Morena’, ‘Salmon Pink’,
‘Cleopatra’ and an un-named pink fine leaf form were
selected as potential comparators in the red purple colour
group of Verbena. ‘Sunmariripi’ A syn Coral Pink A was
rejected as it has a broad hastate leaf shape with fine margin
incisions. The un-named pink fine leaf form was rejected
due to small inflorescence and flower size and low flower
count. ‘Cleopatra’ was excluded because of its lighter pink
flower colour. All others were retained as they all fall within
the deeply incised to bipinnatisect leaf type group and have
similar flower colour and form. The parents were not
included for reasons stated above. No other similar varieties
were identified.
Comparative Trial Location: Macquarie Fields, summer
2000-2001. Conditions: trial conducted in open beds
initially and transferred to a polyhouse for rain protection
during flowering, plants propagated from cutting, rooted
cuttings planted into 125mm standard pots filled with
soilless potting mix, nutrition maintained with slow release
and liquid fertilisers, pest and disease treatments applied as
required. Trial design: fifteen pots of each variety arranged
in a completely randomised design. Measurements: from
ten plants at random. One sample per plant.
Prior Applications and Sales
Country Year Current Status Name Applied
The Netherlands 1996 Surrendered ‘Florena’
EU 1997 Granted ‘Florena’
Japan 1997 Applied ‘Florena’
USA 1997 Granted ‘Florena’
Poland 1998 Granted ‘Florena’
First sold in The Netherlands in Jan 1999. First Australian
sale Aug 1999.
Description: Ian Paananen, Crop & Nursery Services, Central Coast,
NSW.
‘Luxena’
Application No: 2000/224 Accepted: 21 Aug 2000.
Applicant: Syngenta Seeds B.V., Enkhuizen, The
Netherlands.
Agent: Ramm Pty Ltd, Macquarie Fields, NSW.
Characteristics (Table 39, Figure 13) Plant: habit
spreading to trailing upright, (average height 16cm, average
main stem length 35cm), many branches, highly floriferous.
Stem: internodes short (average length 22mm), anthocyanin
present, pubescence medium, colour yellow green (RHS
144A). Leaf: size medium, (average length 26mm, average
width 15mm), shape hastate, margin incised-bipinnatisect,
lobe size broad, incisions deep, apex acute, upper side
colour green (RHS 137A), lower side colour yellow green
(RHS 147B), pubescence weak. Inflorescence: spike,
diameter medium (average 56mm), average 43 flowers per
spike, peduncle long (average length 52mm). Flower:
single, upward facing, diameter medium (average 20.1mm),
main colour purple violet (RHS 82D), reverse colour purple
70
violet (RHS 82D) diffuse with white (RHS 155D), eye zone
colour yellow green (RHS 145C-D), corolla lobes separate,
calyx colour green (RHS 137B). (Note: all RHS colour
chart numbers refer to 1995 edition).
Origin and Breeding Controlled pollination: seed parent
‘T1183’ x pollen parent ‘R692’ The seed parent has a white
flower colour and a spreading growth habit and the pollen
parent has a deep blue flower colour and a semi-erect
growth habit. Both parents are breeding stock plants within
breeder’s private collection. Hybridisation took place in
Enkhuizen, The Netherlands in 1994 and first flowers were
observed on the new variety in 1994. Selection criteria:
flower colour and size, earliness, floriferous and growth
vigour. Propagation: mature stock plants were generated
from this seedling through tissue culture and were found to
be uniform and stable. ‘Luxena’ will be commercially
propagated by vegetative cuttings from elite stock plants
from disease indexed tissue cultures. Marketed in Australia
under the Babylon brand name. Breeder: H Stemkens,
Enkhuizen, The Netherlands.
Choice of Comparators Initially ‘Sunmarefu TP-L’ A syn
Lilac Reflections A , ‘Sunmarefu TP-V’ A syn Purple
Passion A , ‘Mylena’, ‘Temari Pink’ and an un-named purple
fine leaf form were selected as potential comparators in the
purple colour group of Verbena. ‘Sunmarefu TP-V’ A syn
Purple Passion A and ‘Mylena’ were rejected as they have a
deeper purple flower colour. The un-named purple fine leaf
form was rejected due to small inflorescence and flower
size and low flower count. ‘Temari Pink’ was excluded
because it has non-incised leaves. All others were retained
as they all fall within the deeply incised to bipinnatisect leaf
type group and have similar flower colour and form. The
parents were not included for reasons stated above. No
other similar varieties were identified.
Comparative Trial Location: Macquarie Fields, summer
2000-2001. Conditions: trial conducted in open beds
initially and transferred to a polyhouse for rain protection
during flowering, plants propagated from cutting, rooted
cuttings planted into 125mm standard pots filled with
soilless potting mix, nutrition maintained with slow release
and liquid fertilisers, pest and disease treatments applied as
required. Trial design: fifteen pots of each variety arranged
in a completely randomised design. Measurements: from
ten plants at random. One sample per plant.
Prior Applications and Sales
Country Year Current Status Name Applied
The Netherlands 1996 Surrendered ‘Luxena’
EU 1997 Granted ‘Luxena’
Japan 1997 Applied ‘Luxena’
USA 1997 Granted ‘Luxena’
Poland 1998 Granted ‘Luxena’
First sold in The Netherlands in Jan 1999. First Australian
sale Aug 1999.
Description: Ian Paananen, Crop & Nursery Services, Central Coast,
NSW.