Hydrangea RIE13 Bi-Colored Bracts and High Fertility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydrangea cultivars lack unique and stable bi-colored flower varieties with high fertility and continuous blooming capabilities, limiting their ornamental value as both indoor potted plants and outdoor flowering shrubs.
Innovation Solution
Development of the Hydrangea macrophylla 'RIE 13' cultivar through deliberate pollination, which exhibits bi-colored pink and light purple bracts, produces an average of 600 fertile flowers per inflorescence, and maintains a broad upright habit, making it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional hydrangea cultivars are used, then they have simple flower colors and lower fertility, but they lack unique bi-colored varieties with high fertility and continuous blooming capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by selecting and breeding plants with specific genetic traits that result in bi-colored bracts (pink and light purple), high fertility (600 fertile flowers per inflorescence), and continuous blooming capability. This transforms the floral characteristics from simple single-color flowers to complex bi-colored flowers with enhanced reproductive capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite genetic structure by crossing different Hydrangea macrophylla cultivars ('Otafuku', 'Yamaajisai', 'Fijinishiritaki') to produce a hybrid with combined desirable traits: bi-colored bracts, high fertility, and continuous blooming, which none of the parent cultivars possess individually.
2Productivity
If hydrangea cultivars with high fertility are developed, then they produce more fertile flowers, but they may require complex breeding programs and time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by conducting a systematic breeding program starting in 1990 that pre-selects and crosses specific cultivars with desirable traits. The intermediate generations were evaluated and selected over several years, with the final cross between an unnamed hybrid and 'Sumidanohanabi' performed in May 1993, leading to the selection of 'RIE 13' in June 1994. This preliminary selection process ensures the resulting cultivar has high fertility without requiring further extensive breeding.
Solution Approach 2:
The breeding program incorporates feedback by evaluating thirty-five individual varieties produced from the cross, selecting one that exhibits the desired combination of bi-colored bracts and high fertility (600 flowers per inflorescence). The feedback from observing the performance of intermediate generations guides the selection of the final cultivar, ensuring optimal fertility and ornamental value.
3Duration of action of moving object
If hydrangea cultivars with continuous blooming capability are created, then they bloom from April to October, but they may lack stability in other ornamental traits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures trait stability through preliminary action by conducting multiple generations of selective breeding and evaluation. The cultivar 'RIE 13' was selected in June 1994 from thirty-five individual varieties, and its characteristics have been determined stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations through asexual propagation by softwood cuttings since spring 1995.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention achieves both continuous blooming and trait stability through parameter changes in the genetic composition. The cultivar exhibits a blooming period from early April to October while maintaining stable characteristics including bi-colored pink and light purple bracts, 600 fertile flowers per inflorescence, broad upright habit, large dark grey-green leaves, and rigidity to USDA Zone 5 conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A new cultivar of Hydrangea plant named ‘RIE 13’ that is characterized by broad upright habit, large dark grey-green leaves and fertile flowers which carry bi-colored pink and light purple bracts. In combination these traits set ‘RIE 13’ apart from all other existing varieties of Hydrangea known to the inventor.