tree named ‘QPMTF3’

Latin name of the genus and species:

Variety denomination: ‘QPMTF3’.

The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program. The new variety was discovered growing as a seedling among a group of open-pollinatedtrees at a tree farm in Washington, Georgia. A single seedling tree was observed which had a distinctive pyramidal shape with branches occuring at acute angles through the canopy than the other seedlings among this group. The inventor made this discovery in the Summer of 2020. The exact seed and pollen parents cannot be identified. The open-pollination resulting in the new variety took place during 2016.

Asexual reproduction by grafting of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ was first performed during summer of 2021 at a farm in Washington, Georgia. The cleft grafting system developed by the inventor has resulted in progeny that have proven the characteristics of the new variety to be genetically stable. This grafting process involved taking cuttings in February, being grafted, and being placed in calloused chambers for approximately three weeks. They are then moved into 3″×6″ tree band pots and placed in humidity chambers for approximately four weeks. Furthermore, these observations have confirmed that the new variety represents a new and improved variety oftree as particularly evidenced by the larger leaves, darker more dense canopy, holds foliage longer, dark green mature leaves against new bright green leaves, and dominant central leader. These genetic traits can be consistently reproduced by asexual propagation.

The cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, day length, and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype. The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of ‘QPMTF3’ grown in Washington, Georgia. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘QPMTF3’ as a new and distinctcultivar:

The parent varieties cannot be specifically identified.

Plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ are similar to plants of‘QPSTJ’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,922, in most horticultural characteristics, however, plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ differ in the following:

Plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ are similar to plants of‘QPSTA’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,677, in most horticultural characteristics, however, plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ differ in the following:

Plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ are similar to plants of‘QPSTB’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 18,321, in most horticultural characteristics, however, plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ differ in the following:

Plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ are similar to plants of‘RT3’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,444, in most horticultural characteristics, however, plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ differ in the following:

Plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ are similar to plants of‘QPMTF’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,217, in most horticultural characteristics, however, plants of the new cultivar ‘QPMTF3’ differ in the following:

In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart 2015 except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used. The following observations and measurements describe ‘QPMTF3’ plants grown outdoors at a nursery in Washington, Georgia. Plants described are approximately 2 years old, unless otherwise noted. Temperatures ranged from 5° C. to 10° C. at night to 18° C. to 27° C. during the day. Measurements and numerical values represent averages of typical plant types.