Kercaldiyell

Calendula

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Kercaldiva' (Lady Godiva Orange) and 'Kercalsun' (Power Daisy Sunny)

Summary: At full flowering, the plants of 'Kercaldiyell' are taller and wider than those of 'Kercalsun'. The stem of 'Kercaldiyell' has anthocyanin colouration present on the internodes while anthocyanin colouration is absent on the stem of the reference varieties. The leaf of 'Kercaldiyell' is shorter than that of 'Kercalsun'. The diameter of the flower head is larger for 'Kercaldiyell' than for 'Kercalsun'. The ray floret for 'Kercaldiyell' is longer than that of both reference varieties. The inner side of the ray floret for 'Kercaldiyell' is yellow with orange red along the apex margin while it is orange with orange red along the apex margin for 'Kercaldiva' and yellow throughout for 'Kercalsun'. The flower disc is red brown for 'Kercaldiyell' while it is yellow orange for 'Kercalsun'.

Description:

PLANT: upright to rounded growth habit, medium density, begins flowering early

STEM: anthocyanin colouration present on internode only

LEAF: light to medium green upper side

FLOWER: double type, many ray florets, red brown disc
RAY FLORET: weakly reflexed along longitudinal axis, two colours, inner side is yellow (brighter than RHS 6A) with lighter yellow (RHS 3A) tones and orange red (RHS N25A) along margin of apex, outer side is yellow (closest to RHS 6A)

Origin & Breeding History: 'Kercaldiyell' originated from a planned breeding program developed by the breeders, Timothy Edward Kerley, Sara Elisabeth Kerley, David William Kerley and Priscilla Grace Kerley in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The new variety resulted from a controlled cross pollination conducted in 2014 in Cambridge, United Kingdom between proprietary seedlings designated 13-5-8, as the female parent, and 13-51-7, as the male parent. A single seedling was selected from the resultant progeny in July 2015 in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The new variety 'Kercaldiyell' was selected based on plant growth habit, branching characteristics, flower size, flower colour, length of flowering period and disease tolerance. 'Kercaldiyell' was first propagated by vegetative tip cuttings in August 2015, in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial for 'Kercaldiyell' was conducted in a polyhouse during the spring of 2019 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 20 plants each of the candidate and reference varieties. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 15 cm pots on April 16, 2019. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants, or parts of plants, of each variety on June 2, 2019. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Kercaldiyell' with reference varieties 'Kercaldiva' and 'Kercalsun'

Plant height (cm)

Plant width (cm)

Leaf blade length (cm)

Flower head diameter (cm)

Ray floret length (cm)

Colour of inner side of ray floret (RHS)

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Calendula: 'Kercaldiyell' (left) with reference varieties 'Kercaldiva' (centre) and 'Kercalsun' (right)

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Calendula: 'Kercaldiyell' (left) with reference varieties 'Kercaldiva' (centre) and 'Kercalsun' (right)

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Calendula: 'Kercaldiyell' (left) with reference varieties 'Kercaldiva' (centre) and 'Kercalsun' (right)