Sunlobecopin

Lobelia

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' and 'USLOB13' (Lucia Lavender Blush)

Summary: The plant shoots of 'Sunlobecopin' have an upright attitude whereas the plant shoots of 'USLOB13' have a semi-upright attitude. The plants of 'Sunlobecopin' are shorter in height with shorter shoots and longer shoot internodes than the plants of 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink'. The leaf of 'Sunlobecopin' is smaller than the leaf of both reference varieties. The depth of the incisions of the leaf blade margin are shallow for 'Sunlobecopin' while it is of medium depth for 'USLOB13'. The corolla of 'Sunlobecopin' has a narrower lower lip than the corolla of 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink'. When the corolla is newly open, the main colour on the inner side of the lower lip is violet for 'Sunlobecopin' while it is light blue violet for 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' and bluer violet for 'USLOB13'. When the corolla is fully open, the main colour on the inner side of the lower lip is violet fading to lighter violet for 'Sunlobecopin' while it is light blue violet fading to lighter blue violet for both reference varieties. The main colour on the outer side of the lower lip of the corolla is light blue violet with violet towards the apex for 'Sunlobecopin' while it is darker blue violet for 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' and lighter blue violet for 'USLOB13'. The colour on the outer side of the corolla tube is violet for 'Sunlobecopin' while it is light blue violet for the reference varieties. The arrangement of the lobes of the lower lip of the corolla is touching for 'Sunlobecopin' while it is not touching for 'USLOB13'.

Description:

PLANT: upright attitude of shoots
SHOOT: thin, medium green, absent or very weak intenstiy of anthocyanin colouration, sparse pubescence

LEAF: shallow incisions of margin
LEAF BLADE: elliptic and spatulate shapes, mucronate apex, medium green on upper side, absent or very sparse pubescence on upper side, very dense pubescence on margin

FLOWER: single type
UPPER LIP OF COROLLA: elliptic shape of lobes
UPPER LIP OF COROLLA INNER SIDE: violet (RHS N82B) when newly open, violet (N82B-C) when fully open, violet (RHS N82B-C) with violet (RHS N82C) towards base when faded
LOWER LIP OF COROLLA: arrangement of lobes is touching
LOWER LIP OF COROLLA (INNER SIDE): violet (RHS N82B-C) when newly open, violet (RHS N82C) when fully open, violet (RHS N82D) when faded, medium size white zone, elongated and rounded shape of white zone, medium size markings
LOWER LIP OF COROLLA (OUTER SIDE): light blue violet (RHS 84D) with violet (lighter than N82D) towards apex and white towards base
COROLLA TUBE: violet (RHS N81D) on outer side

Origin & Breeding History: 'Sunlobecopin' was bred in an isolated area during the period of May to June 2008 at the Omi Research and Development Center of Suntory Flowers Ltd. located in Higashiomi-shi, Shiga, Japan. The objective was to create new Lobelia varieties with vigorous, long term flowering, pink coloured flowers, and semi-upright, mounding and abundantly branched plant growth habit. 'Sunlobecopin' was bred by a controlled pollination between the proprietary varieties '7Lob-36c' as the female parent and '8Lob-15b' as the male parent. Seedlings resulting from this pollination were germinated and grown to maturity. In May 2009, one plant was selected for its plant growth habit and flower colour. It was propagated by cuttings and grown from April to August 2010 to examine its botanical characteristics. This plant was later named 'Sunlobecopin'.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial of 'Sunlobecopin' was conducted in a polyhouse during the spring of 2014 at BioFlora Inc. in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included a total of 20 plants each of the candidate and reference variety. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 11.4 cm deep pots on April 14, 2014. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants or parts of plants of each variety on June 2, 2014. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Sunlobecopin' with reference varieties 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' and 'USLOB13'

Plant height (cm)

Shoot length (cm)

Length of shoot internodes (cm)

Leaf length (cm)

Leaf width (cm)

Width of lower lip of corolla (cm)

Colour of lower lip of corolla (RHS)

Colour of corolla tube (RHS)

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Lobelia: 'Sunlobecopin' (left) with reference varieties 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' (centre) and 'USLOB13' (right)

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Lobelia: 'Sunlobecopin' (left) with reference varieties 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' (centre) and 'USLOB13' (right)

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Lobelia: 'Sunlobecopin' (left) with reference varieties 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink' (centre) and 'USLOB13' (right)