Balserimwhi

Osteospermum

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Balserwhit' (Serenity White)

Summary: 'Balserimwhi' differs from the reference variety, 'Balserwhit', mainly in depth of incisions of leaf margins, peduncle length and ray floret colour of the lower side. 'Balserimwhi' has medium depth of incisions of leaf margins whereas 'Balserwhit' has shallow. The peduncle of 'Balwerimwhi' is short whereas it is medium in length in 'Balserwhit'. The lower side of the ray floret of 'Balserimwhi' is white to grey pink with violet stripes whereas it is violet with darker violet stripes on 'Balserwhit'.

Description:

PLANT: erect shoots with medium intensity of anthocyanin, medium height

LEAF: long, medium to wide, elliptic shape, medium depth of incisions of margins, no variegation, medium green on the upper side

FLOWER: short peduncle, one or two complete ray floret whorls, medium inflorescence diameter
RAY FLORET: short to medium length, medium width, oblanceolate in shape, with a rounded - dentate apex, no reflexing, inward rolling of longitudinal margins absent, horizontal to upwards attitude, white on upper side, white to pink-grey with violet stripes on lower side
DISC: medium blue before dehiscence

Origin & Breeding History: 'Balserimwhi' originated from the cross of the proprietary breeding selection '33056-2', as the female parent, with another proprietary seedling selection, '33056-1', as the male parent. The cross was conducted in April 2003 in Santa Paula, California, USA. The initial selection was made in December 2003. Asexual propagation since that time has been through the use of vegetative cuttings. Selection criteria included plant vigour and uniform growth habit.

Tests & Trials: The trials for 'Balserimwhi' were conducted in a polyhouse at BioFlora in St. Thomas, Ontario, during the spring of 2007. The trials included 15 plants of each variety grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 11 cm pots. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of each variety. All colour characteristics were determined using the 2001 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) colour chart.

Comparison tables for 'Balserimwhi' with reference variety 'Balserwhit'

Peduncle length (cm)

Ray floret colour (RHS)

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Osteospermum: 'Balserimwhi' (left) with reference variety 'Balserwhit' (right)

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Osteospermum: 'Balserimwhi' (left) with the reference variety 'Balserwhit' (right)