A new and distinct cultivar of Parthenium argentatum named E-B2WN-13167 is disclosed, characterized by reduced internode lengths, shorter leaf peduncles, thicker leaves, lower number of flowers, aborted seed production, and slower growth.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW PLANT

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of guayule, botanically known as Parthenium argentatum and hereinafter referred to by the variety name “E-B2WN-13167.” E-B2WN-13167 originated from controlled irradiation of seeds from the Parthenium argentatum USDA germplasm line AZ-2 (PI 599675), unpatented.

In 2016, a bulk seed lot of germplasm from AZ-2 was subjected to fast neutron irradiation. The seeds were sown and plants were grown for evaluation in Applicant's research facility located in Eloy, Arizona. A sexual reproduction of E-B2WN-13167 was performed by the propagation of vegetative cuttings. Multiple generations have since been produced and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true-to-type in successive generations.

SUMMARY

The following characteristics of the new cultivar have been repeatedly observed and can be used to distinguish E-B2WN-13167 as a new and distinct cultivar of Parthenium argentatum plant.

The E-B2WN-13167 cultivar has not been observed and evaluated under all possible conditions and phenotypic differences may be observed with variations in environmental, climatic, and cultural conditions, however, without any variance in genotype.

Plants of the E-B2WN-13167 cultivar can be distinguished from the AZ-2 variety in several characteristics. For example, plants of the E-B2WN-13167 cultivar have reduced internode lengths, shorter leaf peduncles, thicker leaves, lower numbers of flowers, and exhibit slower growth compared with the AZ-2. The E-B2WN-13167 cultivar has aborted seed production compared with the AZ-2 variety.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

The following is a detailed botanical description of the E-B2WN-13167 cultivar. Observations, measurements, values, and comparisons were collected at Applicant's research facility in Eloy, Arizona.

The E-B2WN-13167 cultivar has shorter internodes resulting in higher numbers of leaves (37±3) per 10 cm branch section compared with AZ-2 (23±2). The internode length of the E-B2WN-13167 cultivar has a length of 0.6±0.23 cm on branches with 0.40 cm branch diameter and 0.72±0.26 cm on branches with 0.70 cm branch diameter, compared with the AZ-2 having an internode length of 0.70±0.25 cm on branches with 0.40 cm diameter and 1.27±0.45 cm on branches with 0.70 cm diameter.

The leaves of the E-B2WN-13167 cultivar have relatively short peduncles (5.01±1.66 cm) compared to other AZ-2 shrubs of the same age (17.62±3.68 cm). The E-B2WN-13167 cultivar had fewer flowers during the growing period, with a smaller flower diameter (0.65±0.02 cm) compared to the wild type (0.82±0.02 cm). The E-B2WN-13167 cultivar has a smaller leaf area (5.07±0.35 cm2) compared to the AZ-2 (5.56±0.73 cm2). The E-B2WN-13167 cultivar is smaller than the AZ-2 and shows a slower rate of growth (0.06 cm/day) compared to the AZ-2 variety (0.1 cm/day).