Abstract:
A  Chrysanthemum  plant named ‘Lyra’ characterized by its medium sized blooms with pink ray florets and prolific branching; natural season flower date August 4-9; blooming for a period of 5 weeks.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     ‘Lyra’ is a product of a breeding and selection program for outdoor pot mums (garden mums) which had the objective of creating new  Chrysanthemum  cultivars with a decorative type flower, a natural season flower date around August 4-9; blooming for a period of 5 weeks. The new plant of the present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of  Chrysanthemum  plant ‘Lyra’ is a seedling resulting from the open pollination (unknown parentage) among groups of  Chrysanthemum  cultivars maintained under the control of the inventor for breeding purposes. The new and distinct cultivar was discovered and selected as one flowering plant by Mark Roland Boeder on a cultivated field in Rijsenhout Holland in August 2001. The plant has been asexually reproduced by cuttings in greenhouses at Rijsenhout Holland. The new cultivar has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention of a new and distinct variety of  Chrysanthemum  is shown in the accompanying drawings, the color being as nearly true as possible with color photographs of this type. 
     FIG. 1 shows a plant of the cultivar in full bloom. 
     FIG. 2 shows the various stages of bloom and foliage of the new cultivar. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     This new variety of  Chrysanthemum  is of the botanical classification  Chrysanthemum morifolium.  The observations and measurements were gathered from plants grown out door in Rijsenhout, Holland under natural day length and temperature and planted in week 23 in 2002. The natural blooming date of this crop was August 4-9 (week 32). The average height of the plants was 25 cms. No growth retardants were used. No tests were done on disease or insect resistance of susceptibility. No tests were done on cold or drought tolerance. This new variety produces medium sized blooms with pink ray florets and a yellow center blooming for a period of 5 weeks. 
     From the cultivars known to inventor the most similar existing cultivar in comparison to ‘Lyra’ is ‘Medusa’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,610). When ‘Medusa’ and ‘Lyra’ are being compared the following differences are noticed: The differences of ‘Medusa’ and ‘Lyra’ are (1) Natural blooming date. Under natural conditions, ‘Medusa’ flowers in early September, which is one month later than ‘Lyra’. (2) Number of ray florets. ‘Medusa’ has a smaller number of ray florets than ‘Lyra’. (3) Size of leaves. ‘Medusa’ has larger leaves than ‘Lyra’. (4) Shape of lobes in leaves. Lobes are deep in the leaves of ‘Medusa’, while the lobes of ‘Lyra’ are shallow. 
     The following is a description of the plant and characteristics that distinguish ‘Lyra’ as a new and distinct variety. The color designations are taken from the plant itself. Accordingly, any discrepancies between the color designations and the colors depicted in the photographs are due to photographic tolerances. The color chart used in this description is: The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, edition 1995. 
     Table 1. Botanical Description of cultivar ‘Lyra’ 
     Bud 
       Size. —Small ;cross-section 1 cm, height 1 cm. 
       Outside color. —Red-purple 70C. 
       Involucral bracts.— 2 rows, length 7 mm, width 3 mm. 
       Involucral bracts among disc - florets. —Not present. 
       Involucral bracts color. —Yellow-green 148D. 
     Bloom 
       Type. —Decorative. 
       Size. —Medium. 
       Fully expanded.— 4 cm. 
       Peduncle length. —6-7 cm. 
       Peduncle color. —Greyed-green 194A. 
       Number of blooms per branch. —Approx. 10 blooms per branch. 
       Performance on the plant.— 5 weeks. 
       Seeds. —Produced in small quantities, ovate grey-brown 199A, 1½ mm in length. 
       Fragrance. —Typical  Chrysanthemum , slightly. 
     Color 
       Center of the flower  ( disc - florets when mature ).—Immature Red-purple 63C. Mature Yellow-orange 17B. 
       Color of upper surface of the ray - florets. —Red-purple 65B. 
       Color of the lower surface of the ray - florets. —Red-purple 70D. 
       Tonality from distance. —A garden mum with pink flowers and a yellow disc. 
       Color of upper side of ray florets after aging of the plant. —Red-purple 65B. 
     Ray florets 
       Texture. —Upper and under side smooth. 
       Number.— 250. 
       Cross - section. —Convex. 
       Longitudinal axis of majority. —Reflexing. 
       Length of corolla tube.— 0.3 cm. 
       Ray - floret margin. —Entire. 
       Ray - floret length.— 1.5 cm. 
       Ray - floret width.— 0.6 cm. 
       Ratio length/width. —Medium. 
       Shape of tip. —Rounded. 
     Disc florets 
       Disc diameter.— 0.4 cm. 
       Distribution of disc florets. —Few, only present in mature stage. 
       Shape. —Tubular. 
       Color. —Yellow-green 145C. 
       Receptacle shape. —Conical raised. 
     Reproductive Organs 
       Stamen. —Present in disc florets only. 
       Stamen color. —Yellow-green 144A. 
       Pollen. —Produced in small amount. 
       Pollen color. —Yellow 7A. 
       Styles. —Thick. 
       Style color. —Yellow 13A. 
       Style length.— 4 mm. 
       Stigma color. —Yellow-green 144A. 
       Stigma width.— 1 mm. 
       Ovaries. —Enclosed in calyx. 
     Plant 
       Form. —A garden mum outdoor mounded and round. 
       Growth habit. —Spreading. 
       Growth rate. —Intermediate. 
       Height.— 25 cm. 
       Width. —35 cm. 
       Stem color. —Greyed-green 194A. 
       Stem strength. —Strong. 
       Stem brittleness. —Brittle. 
       Stem anthocyanin coloration. —Absent. 
       Intermode length.— 5 cm. 
       Length of lateral branch. —From top to bottom 14 cm. 
       Lateral branch color. —Greyed-green 194A. 
       Lateral branch, attachment. —Medium strength. 
       Branching  ( average number of lateral branches ).—Good with 10 breaks after pinching. 
       Natural season blooming date. —August 4-9. 
     Foliage 
       Leaf color. —Upper side Green 137B. Under side Green 138B. 
       Color midvein. —Upper side Green 139D. Under side Green 138C. 
       Size. —Small; length 3.5 cm, width 2.5 cm. 
       Quantity  ( number per lateral branch ).—15. 
       Shape. —Obovate. 
       Texture upper side. —Glabrous. 
       Texture under side. —Pubescent. 
       Venation arrangement. —Palmate. 
       Shape of the margin. —Cleft/entire. 
       Shape of base of sinus between lateral lobes. —Rounded. 
       Margin of sinus between lateral lobes. —Diverging. 
       Shape of base. —Acute. 
       Apex. —Mucronate. 
       Petiole length.— 0.5 cm. 
       Petiole color. —Green 139D. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Differences with the comparison variety 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 ‘Lyra’ 
                 ‘Medusa’ 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Natural blooming date 
                 August 4-9 
                 September 1-7 
               
               
                 Number of ray florets 
                 250 
                 130 
               
               
                 Leaf size 
                 3.5 cm in length and 
                 5 cm in length and 
               
               
                   
                 2 cm in width 
                 4 cm in width 
               
               
                 Lobes in leaves 
                 Shallow 
                 Deep