Hosta Lone Star Variegated Foliage and Flower Traits
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of a Hosta cultivar with a unique combination of large, broadly-mounded habit, flat, stiff foliage with ovate leaves having a weakly undulate margin, and medium-sized flowers on tall scapes arching over and around the foliage, while also featuring pale lavender tepals with darker veins and translucent margins.
Innovation Solution
Hosta 'Lone Star' is a whole plant mutation of 'Key West' with distinct traits such as large, ovate, matte leaves with yellowish-chartreuse variegation, medium-sized flowers on tall scapes, and pale lavender tepals with darker veins, achieved through asexual propagation and shoot-tip tissue culture, retaining all original traits in successive generations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If Hosta cultivars with green center and yellowish variegated margin are used, then the foliage color pattern is achieved, but the unique combination of large broadly-mounded habit, flat stiff foliage, and specific flower characteristics is not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by specifying precise characteristics for different parts of the plant: the foliage has a green center with yellowish-chartreuse margin, the leaves are flat and stiff with weakly undulate margin, the scapes are tall and arching, and the tepals are pale lavender with darker veins and translucent margins. This localized specification of qualities across different plant parts creates the unique combination that distinguishes 'Lone Star' from other Hosta cultivars.
2Reliability
If asexual propagation by division and tissue culture is used, then true-to-type reproduction is achieved, but the time and resources for propagation are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs shoot-tip tissue culture as a preliminary action that allows for rapid multiplication of true-to-type plants. By using tissue culture early in the propagation process, the inventor can produce multiple identical plants simultaneously rather than relying solely on slower division methods, thereby reducing overall propagation time while maintaining trait stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct Hosta plant named ‘Lone Star’ with large, broadly-mounded habit of heavy-substance, stiff, variegated foliage. Leaves are glaucous, ovate with coarsely, weakly undulate, yellowish-chartreuse margins, medium-green centers, and intermediate colors between. Flowers are pale lavender, held well out around foliage beginning in early July. The new plant is attractive for landscaping in the garden as a specimen, in mass and as a large container plant.