Osteospermum Avalanche Hybrid Cold Hardiness and Compact Habit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Osteospermum varieties lack extreme cold hardiness and compact, prostrate growth habits with large, white flowers, making them unsuitable for harsh winter conditions and specific horticultural aesthetics.
Innovation Solution
A new Osteospermum hybrid, 'Avalanche', is developed through crossing Osteospermum jucundum and Osteospermum barberiae, exhibiting exceptional cold hardiness to -25° F, large white flowers, and a compact prostrate habit, achieved through asexual propagation and stable reproduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If current Osteospermum varieties are used, then they can be grown under normal horticultural practices, but they lack extreme cold hardiness and cannot withstand harsh winter conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by developing a new Osteospermum hybrid variety with fundamentally altered cold hardiness parameters. The 'Avalanche' variety achieves cold hardiness to -25° F., representing a significant parameter change from typical Osteospermum varieties that cannot withstand such extreme temperatures. This is accomplished through selective breeding and hybridization that modifies the plant's physiological parameters for cold tolerance.
2Shape
If current Osteospermum varieties are used, then they can produce flowers, but they lack the combination of large size, white color, and compact prostrate habit simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a variety with specific localized characteristics distributed throughout the plant. The 'Avalanche' variety exhibits compact prostrate growth habit as a localized structural quality, combined with large white flowers as another localized quality. This principle allows different parts of the plant to have optimized characteristics - the overall form is compact and spreading, while individual flowers are large and prominently white.
3Reliability
If Osteospermum jucundum and Osteospermum barberiae are hybridized, then extreme cold hardiness and compact habit with large white flowers are achieved, but the variety requires asexual propagation to maintain stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by utilizing asexual propagation through vegetative cuttings to create identical copies of the hybrid plant. This method ensures that the unique combination of traits (cold hardiness, compact prostrate habit, large white flowers) is precisely replicated in each new plant. The copying process maintains genetic stability and reliability of the variety across multiple generations without the variability introduced by sexual reproduction.
Data Source
AI summary
An Osteospermum variety named ‘Avalanche’ particularly distinguished by a cold hardiness to −25° F., a large, white flower size and a compact, prostrate habit, is disclosed.