Heucherella 'Capture the Flag' Hybrid Foliage and Heat Tolerance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Heucherella cultivars lack unique foliage characteristics, robustness, and heat tolerance, with limited diversity in leaf morphology and flower color, as well as insufficient heat and humidity tolerance.
Innovation Solution
Development of the intergeneric hybrid x Heucherella 'Capture the Flag' through intentional crossing of Heuchera 'Red Lightning' and proprietary Tiarella 15-1-29, resulting in chartreuse foliage with reddish-burgundy centers, creamy-white flowers, and a robust, heat-tolerant habit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing Heucherella cultivars are used, then the plant is easy to propagate and maintain, but the foliage lacks unique characteristics and heat tolerance is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the heat tolerance trait from Tiarella with the foliage characteristics of Heuchera through intentional hybridization, creating a new cultivar that combines both parent species' advantageous traits in a single plant
2Shape
If Heuchera 'Red Lightning' is used as female parent, then the plant has good foliage color, but the leaf morphology lacks sufficient dissection and heat tolerance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the leaf morphology parameters by crossing with Tiarella, which introduces more dissected and narrower leaf lobes while also changing the heat tolerance parameter through the incorporation of Tiarella's thermal adaptation traits
3Reliability
If Tiarella 15-1-29 is used as male parent, then the plant has dissected leaf lobes and medium green foliage, but the flower color is not creamy-white and heat tolerance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by selecting specific traits from each parent - the creamy-white flower color from Heuchera 'Red Lightning' and the dissected leaf morphology from Tiarella 15-1-29, while combining their heat tolerance characteristics to create a stable composite genotype
Data Source
AI summary
The new hybrid x Heucherella plant named ‘Capture the Flag’ with large palmately-lobed leaves that are, moderately to deeply dissected into five to seven main lobes with each individual lobes incised to about two-thirds of the way to the main vein. Foliage color starts in the spring as chartreuse, becoming more yellowish, with reddish-burgundy surrounding the veins and toward margins in narrow lines. ‘Capture the Flag’ is vigorous and produces numerous sterile creamy-white flowers in narrow densely-branched panicles beginning in late spring and exhibits good heat and humidity tolerance. The plant is useful for landscaping as a specimen color, en masse, or as a container plant.