Sunbelsupu

Calibrachoa

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Sunbelsafu' (Million Bells Bush Purple) and 'Caltradabl' (Superbells Trailing Blue)

Summary: The plants of 'Sunbelsupu' have a mounding to semi-upright growth habit while those of 'Sunbelsafu' are spreading/trailing to mounding and those of 'Caltradabl' are cascading. 'Sunbelsupu' is taller than both reference varieties. The upper side of the corolla of 'Sunbelsupu' is lighter violet than that of 'Sunbelsafu'. 'Sunbelsapu' has weaker conspicuousness of veins on the upper side of the corolla than 'Sunbelsafu' and 'Caltradabl'. The lower side of the corolla is violet with a white background for 'Sunbelsupu' while it is violet for 'Sunbelsafu' and light blue violet with blue violet secondary veins for 'Caltradabl'

Description:

PLANT: mounding to semi-upright growth habit, very tall, broad
SHOOT: medium thickness, medium length, weak anthocyanin colouration at tips and pedicels only

LEAF BLADE: medium length, medium width, elliptic and obovate, broad acute apex, no variegation, medium green on upper side
PETIOLE: short

SEPAL: short to medium length, narrow, rhombic, no anthocyanin colouration
FLOWER: single type, funnel form, short pedicel length
COROLLA: medium diameter, weak degree of lobing, one colour on upper side
COROLLA LOBE: violet with white background on upper and lower sides, dark violet at area of transition to corolla tube on upper side, weak conspicuousness of purple veins on upper side, weak to medium undulation of margin
COROLLA TUBE: short to medium length, yellow to yellow orange on inner side, weak to medium conspicuousness of veins on inner side
ANTHER: yellow before pollen dehiscence, yellow after pollen dehiscence

Origin & Breeding History: 'Sunbelsupu' originated from a cross between the female parents '9L82' and the male parent '9L68'. The cross took place in April 2002, at the Omi R&D Center of Suntory Flowers Ltd. located in Higashiomi-shi, Shiga-ken, Japan. In September 2002, 50 seedlings were obtained and grown in greenhouse trials. 'Sunbelsupu' was selected in September 2003 based on flower colour and growth habit.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Sunbelsupu' were conducted during the summer of 2007, in a polyhouse, in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included 20 plants each of the candidate and reference varieties. All plants were grown from rooted cuttings and transplanted into 30 cm hanging baskets on May 1, 2007. Each basket contained 4 cuttings with a total of 5 baskets per variety. Observations and measurements were taken from 10 plants of each variety (except for plant height where 5 plants were measured) on July 7, 2007. All colour determinations were made using the 2001 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Colour Chart.

Comparison tables for 'Sunbelsupu' with reference varieties 'Sunbelsafu' and 'Caltradabl'

Plant height (cm)

Main colour of corolla lobe (RHS)

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Calibrachoa: 'Sunbelsupu' (left) with reference varieties 'Sunbelsafu' (center) and 'Caltradabl' (right)

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Calibrachoa: 'Sunbelsupu' (left) with reference varieties 'Sunbelsafu' (center) and 'Caltradabl' (right)