Yosanta Cruz

Chrysanthemum

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Fire Island'

Summary: The leaf of 'Yosanta Cruz' is wider than the leaf of 'Fire Island'. The flower head of 'Yosanta Cruz' is smaller in diameter and single while the flower head of 'Fire Island' is semi-double. The ray florets of 'Yosanta Cruz' are shorter than the ray florets of 'Fire Island'. The secondary colour on the ray floret of 'Yosanta Cruz' is distributed at the tip and in a very small band at the base while the secondary colour on the ray floret of 'Fire Island' is distributed at the basal half, becoming diffuse where it transitions to the main colour.

Description:

PLANT: bushy type, semi-upright growth habit, green stem

PETIOLE: moderately upwards attitude, medium length relative to leaf length
LEAF: terminal lobe medium to long relative to leaf length, lowest lateral sinus medium to deep with parallel to converging margins, base obtuse to truncate, upper side medium green with weak glossiness, many deep margin indentations

FLOWER: medium to many flower heads per plant, outer side of bud brown red (RHS 182A) with yellow (RHS 6A) at tip, single daisy head type
RAY FLORETS: one to two rows, predominantly ligulate type, moderately ascending attitude of basal part, very short to short corolla tube, flat profile in cross section at widest point, flat margin, weak reflexing along longitudinal axis at distal quarter, tip emarginated, dentate, mamillate and obtuse
RAY FLORET: inner side red (RHS 45A) to dark purple red (RHS 46A) with yellow (RHS 3A) secondary colour at tip and in a very small band at base, secondary colour in a solid or nearly solid pattern, outer side yellow (RHS 5C) with streaks of brown red (RHS 181B-C)
DISC: small diameter relative to head diameter, slightly domed in cross section, green before anther dehiscence with no dark spot at centre, yellowish green at anther dehiscence.

Origin & Breeding History: The variety 'Yosanta Cruz' originated from a controlled pollination conducted in January 2004 in Salinas, California, USA. The female parent was a proprietary seedling designated YB-A7399 and the male parent was a proprietary seedling designated YB-A7002. The new variety was selected in December 2005 in Fort Myers, Florida, USA. The selection criteria included growth habit, flowering response time, flower form and colour, and suitability for production. Asexual reproduction of the variety by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Fort Myers, Florida in March 2006.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Yosanta Cruz' were conducted in a greenhouse trial during the Fall of 2011 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. On August 8, 2011, fifty unrooted cuttings were directly stuck into 15 cm pots, with 5 cuttings per pot. The trial included a total of 10 pots of each variety spaced 30 cm apart. Plants were pinched once prior to short day treatment. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of each variety on November 7, 2011. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Yosanta Cruz' with reference variety 'Fire Island'

Leaf width (cm)

Flower head diameter (cm)

Ray floret length (cm)

Colour of inner side of ray floret (RHS)

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Chrysanthemum: 'Yosanta Cruz' (left) with reference variety 'Fire Island' (right)

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Chrysanthemum: 'Yosanta Cruz' (left) with reference variety 'Fire Island' (right)

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Chrysanthemum: 'Yosanta Cruz' (left) with reference variety 'Fire Island' (right)