A chrysanthemum plant named ‘Zanmugrape Red’ characterized by its medium sized blooms with dark red ray florets and prolific branching; natural season flowering date October 8; blooming for a period of 5 weeks.

RELATED CULTIVARS

The new plant is a flower color mutant of ‘Zanmugrape’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,039)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar ofchrysanthemumplant, botanically known asChrysanthemumxmorifoliumRamat., commercially known as a garden mum, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar denomination ‘Zanmugrape Red’. ‘Zanmugrape Red’ is a product of a breeding and selection program which had the objective of finding flower color mutants from existing parent plants. The new plant comprises a whole plant mutant of the parentchrysanthemumnamed ‘Zanmugrape’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,039). Plants of the new cultivar ‘Zanmugrape Red’ differ from plants of the female parent in the color of the ray-florets. The ray-florets of the parent are purple, while those of the new plant are dark red.

In order to obtain color mutants, unrooted cuttings of the parent plant were irradiated in January 2015 at Ziekenhuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with gamma radiation at a dose of 15 Gy. These treated cuttings were then planted in a controlled environment (greenhouse) in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands. In this population of planted cuttings, the new cultivar was discovered as a natural flower color mutant in March 2016 by Sjoukje Heimovaara. The first act of asexual reproduction of ‘Zanmugrape Red’ was accomplished when after planting of the mutant as a motherplant in April 2016, vegetative cuttings from this motherplant were taken and propagated further in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands. In summer, about 6-8 days are needed to initiate roots in cuttings of the new cultivar, after another 5 days rooted plants are formed. The new cultivar has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The observations and measurements were gathered from plants in the period of 19 to 26 weeks of age grown outdoor in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands, under natural day length and temperature and planted in week 21 in 2018. The natural blooming date of this crop was October 8 (week 41). The average height of the plants was 28 cm. No growth retardants were used. No tests were done on disease or insect resistance or susceptibility. No tests were done on cold or drought resistance. This new variety produces medium sized blooms with dark red ray florets blooming for a period of five weeks.

From the cultivars known to the inventor the most similar existing cultivar in comparison to ‘Zanmugrape Red’ is ‘Zanmugrape’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,039). When ‘Zanmugrape’ and ‘Zanmugrape Red’ are compared the following difference is noticed: Ray florets of ‘Zanmugrape’ are red-purple and those of ‘Zanmugrape Red’ are more dark red.

The following is a description of the plant and characteristics that distinguish ‘Zanmugrape Red’ 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, sixth edition (2005).

Differences with the comparison variety, when grown under identical conditions