Miniature rose plant named &#8216;POULberty&#8217;

A new miniature rose plant which has abundant, flowers and attractive foliage. The variety successfully propagates from softwood cuttings and is suitable for year round production in commercial glasshouses. This new and distinct variety has shown to be uniform and stable in the resulting generations from asexual propagation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of miniature rose plant which originated from a controlled crossing between an unnamed seedling and POULjol . The two parents were crossed and the resulting seeds were planted in a controlled environment. The new variety is named POULberty .

The new rose may be distinguished from its seed parent, an unnamed seedling, by the following combination of characteristics:

1. The unnamed seedling seed parent is a yellow miniature, where POULberty has yellow blooms with pink intonations.

2. The growth of the unnamed seed parent tends to be upright, where that of POULberty is broad and bushy.

The new variety may be distinguished from its pollen parent, POULjol , created by the same inventors, by the following combination of characteristics:

1. The blooms of POULjol are yellow, where those of POULberty are yellow, with pink intonations.

The objective of the hybridization of this rose variety for commercial culture was to create a new and distinct variety with unique qualities, such as:

1. Uniform and abundant flowers;

2. Vigorous and compact growth;

4. Suitability for production from softwood cuttings in pots;

5. Durable flowers and foliage which make a variety suitable for distribution in the floral industry.

The combination of qualities of this variety represents significant improvement over previously available commercial cultivars of this type and distinguishes POULberty from all other varieties of which we are aware. As part of their rose development program, L. Pernille Olesen and Mogens N. Olesen germinated the seeds from the aforementioned hybridization and conducted evaluations on the resulting seedlings in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark.

POULberty was selected by the inventors as a single plant from the progeny of the hybridization inFredensborg, Denmark in May of 1997.

Asexual reproduction of POULberty by cuttings and traditional budding onto Rosa multiflora understock was first done by L. Pernille and Mogens N. Olesen in August of 1997, in their nursery in Fredenborg, Denmark. This initial and other subsequent propagations conducted in controlled environments have demonstrated that the characteristics of POULberty are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

The following is a description of POULberty , as observed in its growth in glasshouses in; Half Moon Bay, Calif. Color references are made using The Royal Horticultural Society (London, England) Colour Chart, 1995, except where common terms of color are used.

For a comparison, several physical characteristics of the rose variety POULwen miniature rose variety from the same inventors described and illustrated in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,500 are compared to POULberty in Chart 1.

CHART 1 POULberty POULwen Bud Color at Orange Group 29C. Blend of Yellow-Orange Open: Group 15C and Orange- Red Group 30B. Upper Surface Yellow Group 11D, with Yellow Group 13C. of Petal, Open marginal intonations of Bloom: Yellow Group 12A-B. Petalage: 30 to 35 petals under normal 35-40 petals under conditions. normal conditions. Parents: Unnamed Seedling POULjol.

FLOWER AND FLOWER BUD

Size. Upon opening, 20 mm-22 mm in length from base of receptacle to end of bud.

Bud color. As sepals unfold, Orange Group 29C, Orange Group 29C at opening.

Sepals. Yellow-Green Group 144A. Moderate to weak foliaceous appendages on three of the five sepals. Surfaces of sepals slightly pubescent. Stipitate glands are present on edges of the sepals.

Borne. Generally with one bud per flowering stem.

Duration. As a pot plant, flowers last from 4 to 5 days. As a cut flower 3 to 5 days. Petals fall cleanly away from plant.

Size. Medium for use in a 10 cm pot, which is typical in propagation of the cultivar. Average flower diameter is 30 mm when open.

Form. Shape of flower when viewed from the side: Upon opening, upper part: Convex Upon opening, lower part: Flattened convex. Open flower, upper part: Flattened convex. Open flower, lower part: Flattened Convex.

Upon opening, petals. Outermost petals: Upper Surface: Orange Group 27C-D. Reverse Side: Orange Group 27D. Innermost petals: Upper Surface: Basal zone is Yellow-Orange Group 18C-D, Marginal zone is Yellow Group 12B. Reverse Side: Orange Group 27B.

After opening, petals. Outermost petals: Upper Surface: Yellow Group 11D, with Marginal intonations of Yellow Group 12A-B. Reverse Side: Yellow Group 11D. Innermost petals: Upper Surface: Yellow Group 11D, with Marginal intonations of Yellow Group 12A-B. Reverse Side: Yellow Group 11D.

After opening, basal petal spots. No distinctive coloration at petal base noted.

General tonality: On open flower Yellow-Orange Group 18C-D towards center of bloom; guard petals being Yellow-Orange Group 23D. No change in the general tonality at the end of the 7 th day. Afterwards, general tonality is Yellow Group 12C-D.

Styles. Color: Greyed-Purple Group 185C immediately below stigmas, fading into White Group 155C and then Yellow-Green Group 145D at the base.

PLANT

Plant growth: Vigorous, compact. When grown as a 10 cm pot plant, the average height of the plant itself is 13 to 17 cm and the average width is 20 to 25 cm.

Plant foliage: Normal number of leaflets on leaves in middle of the stem: 5 leaflets.

Plant leaves and leaflets:

Disease resistance: Average resistance to mildew, black spot, and Botrytis under normal growing conditions in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Cold hardiness: POULberty has been found to be resistant to damage from cold, heat and drought damage in USDA Zone 7.