Cal Goldey

Calibrachoa

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Sunbelki' (Million Bells Yellow)

Summary: 'Cal Goldey' is a calibrachoa variety which has a more orange yellow main corolla colour than the reference variety 'Sunbelki'. The flowers of 'Cal Goldey' have a prominent red coloured "eye" zone at the transition to the corolla tube, whereas 'Sunbelki' does not have this distinct ring of red secondary colour on the corolla. The veins on the upper side of the corolla of 'Cal Goldey' are bright red, while those of 'Sunbelki' are red brown. The veins on the lobes of the corolla of 'Cal Goldey' are less conspicuous than the veins on 'Sunbelki'.

Description:

PLANT: trailing to mounding growth habit, broad to very broad width
SHOOT: medium to thick, medium to long, strong anthocyanin colouration
LEAF: long to very long, medium to broad width, elliptic, narrow acute apex, medium to dark green

SEPAL: medium length, lanceolate shape, anthocyanin colouration present
FLOWER: single, funnelform, medium diameter, short to medium pedicel
COROLLA: weak lobing, yellow main colour on upper and lower sides, red "eye" zone at transition to corolla tube, red veins, veins moderately to strongly conspicuous, no undulation of margin
COROLLA TUBE: long, yellow on inner side, moderately conspicuous veins
ANTHER: yellowish white to yellow before dehiscence, yellow to light brown after dehiscence

Origin & Breeding History: 'Cal Goldey' was developed by the breeder, an employee of Goldsmith Seeds, California, U.S.A., as part of a planned pedigree breeding program. The new variety originated from the cross made between the female parent '501-1', a proprietary seedling with light orange coloured flowers, and the male parent '508-1', a proprietary seedling with orange coloured flowers. The resultant seed was sown and in 2003 a single plant was selected by the breeder based on flower colour, form and plant habit.

Tests & Trials: The tests and trials for 'Cal Goldey' were conducted in a polyhouse during the summer of 2006 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 20 plants of each of the candidate and reference varieties. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 25 cm baskets on April 20, 2006. Each basket contained 3 cuttings with a total of 7 baskets per variety. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of each variety on July 10 and 12, 2006. All colour measurements were made using the RHS Colour Chart 2001.

Comparison tables for 'Cal Goldey' with reference variety 'Sunbelki'

Main colour of corolla lobe (RHS)

Secondary colour of corolla lobe (RHS)

Colour of corolla tube (RHS)

Click on image for larger view

Calibrachoa: 'Cal Goldey' (left) with reference variety 'Sunbelki' (right)