Hibiscus Edge of Night Hybrid Plant Traits
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of a hardy, herbaceous Hibiscus plant with specific unique traits such as compact mounded habit, bubblegum pink flowers with dark pink veining, and deep mahogany foliage, which are not found in existing Hibiscus varieties.
Innovation Solution
The development of Hibiscus 'Edge of Night', a hybridized plant with a combination of moscheutos and coccineus species, propagated through sterile shoot-tip tissue culture and greenhouse shoot tip cuttings, exhibiting a compact, winter-hardy habit, producing many flat rotate flowers with bubblegum pink petals and dark pink veining, and ovate to trilobed foliage with deep mahogany color.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If existing Hibiscus varieties are used, then flower production is achieved, but the combination of compact mounded habit, bubblegum pink flowers with dark pink veining, and deep mahogany foliage is not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple desirable traits from different Hibiscus species (moscheutos and coccineus) into a single hybrid plant. The parent plants provided the foundation for combining compact mounded habit, bubblegum pink flowers with dark pink veining, and deep mahogany foliage into one unified variety that expresses all these characteristics simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes asexual reproduction methods (sterile shoot-tip tissue culture and greenhouse shoot tip cuttings) to maintain genetic stability and preserve the unique trait combination. This propagation method ensures that the plant parameters (flower color, foliage color, growth habit) remain consistent across successive generations without the variability introduced by sexual reproduction.
2Reliability
If asexual reproduction is used to maintain trait stability, then true-to-type reproduction is achieved, but the process requires sterile shoot-tip tissue culture and greenhouse shoot tip cuttings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asexual reproduction methods that create genetic copies of the parent plant. Through sterile shoot-tip tissue culture and greenhouse shoot tip cuttings, new plants are produced that are identical clones of the parent, ensuring true-to-type reproduction of the unique trait combination without the genetic recombination that would occur in sexual reproduction.
3Volume of moving object
If compact mounded habit is achieved, then space efficiency is improved, but the plant must maintain winter hardiness while producing prolonged flowers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the compact mounded growth habit with prolonged flower production capability in a single plant variety. The hybrid Hibiscus 'Edge of Night' maintains a compact form while producing flowers continuously from mid-summer through fall, combining space efficiency with extended flowering duration in one unified plant architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Hibiscus 'Edge of Night' offers a unique combination of traits including a compact, winter-hardy habit, prolonged flower production, and specific foliage and flower colors, making it distinct from other hardy herbaceous Hibiscus varieties, while maintaining stability through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
Implementation Method 1
Hibiscus 'Edge of Night' was first asexually propagated in late summer of 2018 by sterile shoot-tip tissue culture
Implementation Method 2
later by greenhouse shoot tip cuttings at the same nursery in Zeeland, Mich.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct cultivar of winter-hardy, herbaceous, perennial, hybrid Hibiscus plant named ‘Edge of Night’ comprising a compact rounded mound habit of multiple, well-branched, basal stems producing flowers from the bottom to the top of the plant for five to six weeks from late July to early September. Flower petals are bubblegum pink with dark pink veins radiating toward margin and deep red eye set off with column of butter-yellow pollen. The foliage is mostly ovate, rarely trilobed, and very dark mahogany-colored.