Hosta 'Dancing on the Sun' Leaf Surface and Habit Traits
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing Hosta cultivars lack a specific combination of traits such as large, broadly lanceolate to narrowly cordate leaves with matte top and glaucous bottom surfaces, white flowers with light lavender centers and pale lavender backs, and a large, rounded mound habit, which are not found in currently registered cultivars.
Innovation Solution
A new Hosta hybrid, 'Dancing on the Sun', is developed by crossing proprietary unreleased hybrids 11-253-10 and 11-304-2, exhibiting unique characteristics like large, flat leaves with rippled margins, white flowers with lavender centers, and a large, rounded mound habit, which are retained through asexual propagation and tissue culture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If existing Hosta cultivars are used, then common Hosta traits are present, but the specific combination of large broadly lanceolate to narrowly cordate leaves with matte top and glaucous bottom surfaces, white flowers with light lavender centers, and large rounded mound habit is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by specifying distinct surface characteristics for different parts of the leaf - the adaxial (top) surface is matte while the abaxial (bottom) surface is glaucous. This differentiation of surface properties across different locations of the same organ creates the unique visual and textural characteristics that distinguish this cultivar from others with similarly shaped leaves.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite phenotype by combining multiple distinct traits - large broadly lanceolate to narrowly cordate leaves, matte adaxial surface, glaucous abaxial surface, white flowers with light lavender centers, and large rounded mound habit - into a single unified cultivar expression. This composite combination of characteristics does not occur in any single existing cultivar.
2Ease of manufacture
If Hosta cultivars with similar leaf colors are selected, then yellowish or blue-green foliage is achieved, but the specific matte top and glaucous bottom surface combination is not present
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asexual propagation methods (division and tissue culture) to create exact genetic copies of the original plant. This copying process ensures that the unique combination of matte adaxial and glaucous abaxial surfaces, along with other cultivar characteristics, is precisely replicated in subsequent generations without genetic variation, maintaining trait consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies precise parameter ranges for leaf dimensions (20-40 cm length, 10-20 cm width), surface characteristics (matte adaxial, glaucous abaxial), and plant habit (large rounded mound, 30-60 cm diameter) to ensure consistent reproduction of the cultivar's distinctive features across propagation generations.
3Area of stationary object
If Hosta cultivars with large leaves are chosen, then foliage size is increased, but the specific broadly lanceolate to narrowly cordate shape with sinuate margins is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by specifying that the leaf margins are sinuate (wavy) rather than entire or deeply lobed, while maintaining large overall leaf size. This localized characteristic of the margin configuration, combined with the broadly lanceolate to narrowly cordate overall shape, creates a distinctive leaf morphology that differs from other large-leaved Hosta cultivars with different margin types.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct Hosta plant named ‘Dancing on the Sun’ produces large rounded mounds of broadly lanceolate to narrowly cordate leaves of yellowish color. The large-sized leaves have a matte upper surface and glaucous underside. The flowers are white with light lavender centers and pale lavender backs. Flowers are attractively subtended by floral bracts making the whole scape more effective. ‘Dancing on the Sun’ is useful in the landscape, as a container plant, a specimen, or en masse.