Cotinus MINCOFLA20 Cultivar Multi-Season Foliage Color

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

There is a need for new Cotinus coggygria varieties with improved branching habits and interesting colored foliage, as existing varieties lack distinct foliage colors and vigor in certain environmental conditions.

Innovation Solution

The cultivar 'MINCOFLA20' is developed through a breeding program, exhibiting a well-branched growth habit, medium vigor, and unique foliage colors that vary from green and greyed-purple in spring to bright orange in autumn, distinguishing it from parent and comparative varieties.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If existing Cotinus varieties are used, then they are available for cultivation, but they lack distinct foliage colors and vigor in certain environmental conditions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefoliage color variation and vigorVSAvoidperformance consistency in environmental conditions

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The breeding program selected and crossed parent plants with specific genetic parameters for foliage color and vigor, resulting in MINCOFLA20 with stabilized parameters that consistently produce green/greyed-purple spring foliage, green summer foliage, and bright orange fall foliage across varying environmental conditions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of selecting for single-season foliage color, the invention inverted the approach by selecting for multi-season color variation capability, creating a plant that displays distinct colors in spring, summer, and fall, thereby achieving reliable adaptability across environmental conditions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Shape

If new Cotinus varieties with improved branching habits are developed through breeding, then branching quality improves, but breeding time and resource investment increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebranching habitVSAvoidbreeding program duration

Core Design Contradiction:

ShapeVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The breeding program performed preliminary selection of parent plants with desirable branching characteristics before crossing, and established a systematic propagation protocol using vegetative stem cuttings that accelerates the development of well-branched plants, reducing the overall time from breeding to commercial availability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention uses vegetative stem cutting propagation to create exact genetic copies of the selected breeding plants, allowing rapid multiplication of plants with proven superior branching habits without waiting for sexual reproduction cycles, thereby significantly reducing the time loss associated with breeding

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUSPP33624P2<i>Cotinus </i>plant named ‘MINCOFLA20’

Publication Date: 2021.11.09 HORTIVAL DIFFUSION SAS

AI summary

A new and distinct cultivar of Cotinus plant named ‘MINCOFLA20’ is disclosed, characterized by green and greyed-purple foliage color in Spring, green foliage in Summer, and bright orange foliage in Autumn. Plants are well-branched with medium vigor. Inflorescences are distinctively light red. The new variety is a Cotinus, normally produced as an outdoor garden or container plant.