Balucpea

Lantana

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Balucpeach' (Landmark Peach Sunrise)

Summary: 'Balucpea' has shorter plants with a more erect growth habit than 'Balucpeach'. 'Balucpea' has longer petioles than 'Balucpeach'. The apex of the corolla lobes for 'Balucpea' is obtuse shaped while it is emarginate for 'Balucpeach'. The mature florets of 'Balucpea' are light yellow orange with an orange center aging to purple red with an orange brown center while those of 'Balucpeach' are yellow green with purple red tones and a yellow orange center aging to purple red and orange brown with an orange red center. 'Baluncpea' develops very few, mostly single fruit while 'Balucpeach' develops many clusters of fruit.

Description:

'Balucpea' is a Lantana variety with an erect to semi erect plant growth habit. The stems have sparse to medium dense pubescence. The leaf blade is elliptic to ovate with an acute shaped apex, acute shaped base and dentate margin. The leaves are medium green with medium dense pubescence on both the upper and lower sides. There is a petiole present.

The inflorescence of 'Balucpea' are dome shaped in profile and located at terminal positions on the stems. There are three floret colours per inflorescence. Upon opening, each floret is yellow green with a pink margin and yellow base. As the florets mature they become light yellow orange with an orange center and finally age to purple red with an orange brown center. The colour of the corolla eye is orange and pink. The corolla lobes range from not touching to overlapping and each has an obtuse shaped apex and moderate to strong undulation of the margin. The development of drupes is mostly as single fruit and very few in quantity. The drupes are green and mature to blue/black.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Balucpea' originated from a controlled breeding program conducted at the Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago, Illinois, USA in August of 2000. It is the result of an open pollination of Lantana variety 'Confetti' which is characterized by its vigorous spreading growth habit and pink/yellow flowers. Initial selection of 'Balucpea' was made in Arroyo Grande, California, USA in February of 2001.

Tests & Trials: The test and trial for 'Balucpea' was conducted in a polyhouse at BioFlora Inc. in St. Thomas, Ontario during the spring of 2005. The trial included 15 plants of each variety. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 11 cm pots on April 28, 2005. All colour characteristics were determined using the 2001 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) colour chart and measured characteristics were based on ten measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Balucpea' with reference variety 'Balucpeach'

Plant height (cm)

Petiole length (mm)

Colour of newly opened corolla (RHS)

Colour of mature corolla (RHS)

Colour of aged corolla (RHS)