Melody Latin

Dahlia

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Gallery Cezanne'

Summary: 'Melody Latin' has shorter plants and longer peduncles than 'Gallery Cezanne'. The location of the flowers in relation to the foliage is high above for 'Melody Latin' while it is level with the foliage for 'Gallery Cezanne'. The flowers of 'Melody Latin' are larger in diameter with broader ray florets than those of 'Gallery Cezanne'. The ray floret tips of 'Melody Latin' are dentate while those of 'Gallery Cezanne' are cuspidate.

Description:

'Melody Latin' has an upright to rounded plant growth habit. The stem is light green with no anthocyanin colouration. The compound leaves are dark green and have a low length:width ratio. There are three to five leaflets per leaf and wings on the petioles or rachis are present. The upper surface of the leaves has a weakly rugose texture, weak glossiness and raised venation. The margins of the leaf blades have a moderate number of shallow incisions. The peduncles are medium in length with no anthocyanin colouration.

'Melody Latin' has yellow, double type flowers which belong to the decorative group. They are displayed high above the foliage in an upright position relative to the peduncle. The flower heads are tall and the ray florets are dense. The ray floret length:width ratio is low to medium. The ray florets are straight to reflexed along the longitudinal axis. In cross-section, the ray florets are moderately concave (in U-shape) at the mid-point. The lateral margin at the middle of the ray florets is flat and the shape of the tip is dentate. The colour distribution on each ray floret is even. The ray florets are yellow on the upper side and yellow green on the lower side.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Melody Latin' originated from a hybridization made in a controlled breeding program which took place in Lisse, The Netherlands during 1996. The female parent was dahlia variety 'Gallery Art Deco' and the male parent was dahlia variety 'München'. The initial selection of 'Melody Latin' took place in 1997. Since that time, asexual propagation has been through the use of vegetative cuttings.

Tests & Trials: The test and trial for 'Melody Latin' was conducted in a polyhouse during the spring/summer of 2004 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included 15 plants of each variety. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings, planted into 11 cm pots on April 22, 2004 and transplanted to 23 cm pots on June 4, 2004. All colour characteristics were determined using the 2001 RHS colour chart and measured characteristics were based on ten plant measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Melody Latin' with reference variety 'Gallery Cezanne'

Plant height (cm)

Flower diameter (cm)

Colour of ray florets (RHS)

Ray floret width (mm)