Echinacea TNECHPS Cultivar Compact Habit and Multicolored Florets
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current Echinacea cultivars lack compact growth habits and prolonged blooming with profuse inflorescences, especially in the first season, and do not exhibit the desired multicolored ray florets and rebloom characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A new Echinacea cultivar 'TNECHPS' with medium orange to soft gold multicolored ray florets, compact habit, and extended bloom time, bred from proprietary interspecific hybrids of Echinacea paradoxa, Echinacea purpurea, and Echinacea tennesseensis, utilizing asexual propagation for consistent reproduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If conventional Echinacea cultivars are used, then they produce inflorescences, but the growth habit is not compact and blooming duration is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by selecting and breeding plants with specific genetic parameters that result in compact growth habit (reduced plant height and spread) while simultaneously extending bloom duration from typical single-season flowering to multi-season rebloom. The cultivar 'TNECHPS' exhibits these altered parameters through controlled breeding from proprietary interspecific hybrids.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional Echinacea cultivars are used, then they flower, but the ray florets are not multicolored with medium orange to soft gold hues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by developing ray florets with distinct color zones and patterns - medium orange to soft gold colors concentrated in specific areas of the florets, creating multicolored effects. This localized color distribution distinguishes the cultivar and provides consistent aesthetic characteristics across all plants propagated from the cultivar.
3Productivity
If conventional propagation methods are used, then reproduction occurs, but the characteristics are not consistently transmitted to progeny
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying through asexual propagation methods that create genetically identical copies of the parent plant. Through tissue culture and division, the cultivar 'TNECHPS' produces progeny that are exact genetic replicas, ensuring all characteristic traits (compact habit, multicolored ray florets, extended bloom time) are consistently transmitted without variation.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct Echinacea plant named ‘TNECHPS’ characterized by medium orange to soft gold multicolored ray florets, an amazing number of inflorescences starting in the first season, a very compact habit, very long bloom time with excellent rebloom, ray florets held horizontally, and excellent vigor.