Silir

Pelargonium

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Designer Bright Scarlet'

Summary: The leaves of 'Silir' are narrower than those of 'Designer Bright Scarlet'. 'Silir' has leaf blades with an open base while 'Designer Bright Scarlet' has leaf blades with a closed to partly overlapping base. The waviness of the margin of the leaf blade of 'Sillir' ranges from weak to medium while that of 'Designer Bright Scarlet' is absent or very weak. 'Silir' has a zone on the upper side of the leaf blade which ranges from weak to medium conspicuousness while 'Designer Bright Scarlet' has a zone with very strong conspicuousness. The petioles of 'Silir' are shorter than those of 'Designer Bright Scarlet'. 'Silir' has a smaller inflorescence than 'Designer Bright Scarlet'. The middle third of the pedicels of 'Silir' are green while those of 'Designer Bright Scarlet' are medium red. 'Silir' has green sepals while 'Designer Bright Scarlet' has green sepals with red at the base.

Description:

PLANT: upright growth habit
STEM: green, medium thickness, dense pubescence

LEAF BLADE: open base, weak degree of lobing
LEAF MARGIN: crenate, shallow incisions, waviness ranging from weak to medium
UPPER SIDE OF LEAF BLADE: medium pubescence, light green, no variegation
LEAF ZONE: present, conspicuousness ranging from weak to medium, normal position, reddish brown
PETIOLE: dense pubescence

PEDUNCLE: dense pubescence, anthocyanin colouration ranging from absent to weak
INFLORESCENCE: red colour group
PEDICEL: dense pubescence, green middle third
SEPAL: dense pubescence, green
FLOWER BUD: elliptic
FLOWER: semi-double, entire margin
UPPER PETAL: red (RHS 44B) margin and middle on upper side, red to red pink (43B-C) base on upper side, no markings, no white zone at base, red (RHS 41A) lower side
LOWER PETAL: red (RHS 44B) margin and middle of upper side, no markings, very small white zone present, red (RHS 41A) on lower side

Origin & Breeding History: 'Silir' originated from a cross between the female parent 'Sil Liske' and the male parent 'Praludium'. The cross was conducted from July to December of 2001 at Silze GmbH & Co. KG, Germany as part of a controlled breeding program. The initial selection of 'Silir' was made in June 2002 based on flower size, flower shape, flower colour, zoned foliage and plant growth habit. 'Silir' has been reproduced by vegetative cuttings since its selection.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Silir' were conducted in a polyhouse during the summer of 2009 in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included 15 plants each of the candidate and reference varieties. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 15 cm pots on April 24, 2009. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of each variety on June 30, 2009. All colour determinations were made using the 2007 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Silir' with reference variety 'Designer Bright Scarlet'

Leaf width (cm)

Petiole length (cm)

Inflorescence diameter (cm)

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Pelargonium: 'Silir' (left) with reference variety 'Designer Bright Scarlet' (right)

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Pelargonium: 'Silir' (left) with reference variety 'Designer Bright Scarlet' (right)

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Pelargonium: 'Silir' (left) with reference variety 'Designer Bright Scarlet' (right)