A new Bracteantha plant particularly distinguished by its upright plant habit, good field performance, long narrow dark green colored leaves, freely flowering with numerous inflorescences per plant; and daisy-type inflorescences with semi-double pink flowers that are more pale towards inner whorls.

Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed:Bracteantha bracteata.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW PLANT

The present invention relates to a new distinct variety of Straw Daisy plant, botanically known asBracteantha bracteataand hereinafter referred to by the variety name ‘Helisbrabic.’

The newBracteantharesulted from open-pollination of a proprietary selection ofBracteantha bracteataidentified as ‘B541-1’ as the seed parent and a proprietary selection ofBracteantha bracteataidentified as ‘C3185-1’ as the pollen parent. ‘B541-1’ has bigger flowers, bigger foliage, and a deeper pink color compared to the newBracteantha.‘C3185-1’ is less branching, is less floriferous, and has lighter green foliage compared to the newBracteantha.Seed of this combination was harvested in 2002 and the new variety ‘Helisbrabic’ was selected in 2003 as one of the plants of this population. Breeder's code of the new plant is ‘E0247-2.’

This new plant is an annual. The new variety is a product of a planned breeding program conducted in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands. The new cultivar ‘Helisbrabic’ is heat tolerant, compact, and flowers throughout the summer. ‘Helisbrabic’ is sexually reproduced by cuttings for 3 years now and trialled under different conditions in Europe. It has retained its distinctive characteristics through successive propagation and is firmly fixed. The new variety reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The newBracteanthahas not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.

The following characteristics have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of ‘Helisbrabic’ and distinguish the newBracteanthaas a new and distinct variety:1. Compact, upright plant habit2. Freely branching habit and short internodes; dense and bushy plant habit3. Early flowering4. Freely flowering habit with number inflorescences per plant5. Daisy-type inflorescences with approximately 5 whorls of pink flowers that are more pale towards inner whorls6. Dark green with long and narrow foliage

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY

The following detailed descriptions set forth the distinctive characteristics of this newBracteanthaplant. The data which defines these characteristics were collected from asexual reproductions carried out in Enkhuizen, Netherlands. The plant history was taken on 30 week old plants, grown in the open field in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands with day temperatures ranging from 16 to 30° Celsius, and night temperatures ranging from 10 to 16° Celsius.