Sedum Pride and Joy Compact Habit Drought Tolerance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a new and distinct cultivar of Sedum that exhibits unique characteristics such as compact growth habit, drought tolerance, winter hardiness, and sterile flowering, which are not found in existing Sedum varieties.
Innovation Solution
The development of Sedum 'Pride and Joy', a whole-plant mutation of Sedum 'Pure Joy', which features a short and compact plant habit, blue-green leaves, tightly compact stems, late blooming purplish-pink flowers, and sterility, achieved through basal shoot cuttings and stable reproduction in successive generations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If Sedum 'Pure Joy' is used as the parent variety, then the plant exhibits similar habit and color characteristics, but the flowers are lighter pink and leaves are not as dark and blue-green
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by selecting and propagating plants with specific color parameters (darker blue-green leaves and more intense purplish-pink flowers) that differ from the parent variety 'Pure Joy'. This involves changing the color parameters through selective breeding and asexual propagation to achieve the desired phenotype while maintaining the compact habit.
2Shape
If Sedum varieties are bred for compact growth habit, then the plant remains small and dense, but flowering may be reduced or delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by changing the flowering timing parameter through selective propagation of plants that exhibit late blooming characteristics. The asexual propagation method preserves the compact growth habit parameter while simultaneously selecting for delayed flowering, achieving both compactness and late blooming in the same cultivar.
3Stability of the object's composition
If Sedum varieties are selected for sterile flowers without seed production, then the plant maintains compactness and controlled growth, but reproductive capability is eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the taking out principle by extracting the seed production capability from the plant system. Through asexual propagation of sterile plants, the patent maintains the desired compact habit and color characteristics while eliminating seed production, effectively removing the reproductive function that would lead to genetic variation and loss of cultivar characteristics.
4Stability of the object's composition
If Sedum plants are propagated by basal shoot cuttings, then the unique features are stable and reproduced true to type, but the propagation process requires specific timing and conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by using asexual propagation through basal shoot cuttings that naturally root and produce true-to-type plants without requiring complex genetic engineering or artificial selection processes. The plants propagate themselves through their natural vegetative reproduction capability, maintaining stability of characteristics while simplifying the propagation process to a straightforward cutting technique.
Data Source
AI summary
A new and distinct cultivar of perennial Sedum plant named ‘Pride and Joy’ is characterized by drought-tolerant, winter-hardy, dense, low, compact mounds with blue-green foliage and stems that resist opening up in the center of the plant. The flowers of a purplish-pink effect for about four weeks beginning in mid-August. The new plant is useful for landscaping as a specimen plant, en masse or in a container.