Whip White

Petunia

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Revolution White' (Surfinia White) and 'Conbloss' (Supertunia Mini White)

Summary: 'Whip White' has a more upright growth habit than 'Revolution White' and 'Conbloss'. The shoots of 'Whip White' are shorter than 'Revolution White' and 'Conbloss'. 'Whip White' has thinner shoots than 'Revolution White'. 'Whip White' has a slightly shorter leaf than 'Revolution White'. The sepal of 'Whip White' is smaller than 'Revolution White'. 'Whip White' has a smaller corolla diameter than 'Revolution White' and 'Conbloss'. The corolla of 'Whip White' has a weaker degree of lobing than 'Revolution White'. 'Whip White' has a truncate to rounded corolla lobe apex while it is cuspidate in 'Conbloss'. The conspicuousness of the veins on the corolla lobe and inside the corolla tube of 'Whip White' is weaker than 'Revolution White'.

Description:

'Whip White' is a very short to short petunia variety with an upright growth habit. The shoots are thin, and short to medium in length with no anthocyanin present. The leaves are medium green, ovate to elliptic in shape with a broadly acute apex. There is no variegation on the leaf blade. The sepals are linear in shape with no anthocyanin present. 'Whip White' produces single, funnelform, white flowers. The corolla has weak to medium lobing with strong undulation of the margin and weak to medium conspicuousness of the green veins. The corolla lobe apex is truncate to rounded. The inside of the corolla tube is yellow green and has veins of weak conspicuousness. Anther colour is a yellowish white.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Whip White' was developed by the breeder Mitchell Hanes of Goldsmith Seeds Inc., Gilroy, California, USA, as part of a planned breeding program. 'Whip White' originated from a cross made in October 1999 with proprietary hybrid '99-296-3' as the female parent and the proprietary hybrid '99-264-4' as the male parent. The female parent has light yellow flowers while the male parent has purple flowers. The F1 seed was sown in a greenhouse in January 2000, and in March 2000 a single plant was selected based on flower colour, form and plant habit.

Tests & Trials: Tests and trials for 'Whip White' were conducted in a polyhouse at BioFlora Inc., St. Thomas, Ontario during the summer of 2003. The trials included 15 plants of each variety. Rooted cuttings were transplanted into 15cm pots on April 25, 2003 (week 17). All colour measurements were made using RHS colour chart 2001. Unless otherwise indicated measured characteristics were based on ten measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Whip White' with reference varieties 'Revolution White' and 'Conbloss'

Shoot length (cm)

Leaf length (cm)

Sepal length (mm)

Sepal width (mm)

Diameter of corolla (mm)