plant named ‘Real Jewel’

Genus and species:x

Variety denomination: ‘Real Jewel’.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar ofcommonly known as Shasta daisy, which is grown as an ornamental plant for use in the garden and landscape. The new cultivar is known botanically asxand will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Real Jewel’.

is a genus within the family Asteraceae in which the commonly referred to “flower” is botanically the inflorescence which is comprised of outer showy ray florets surrounding smaller disc florets.

‘Real Jewel’ arose and was selected from an ongoing breeding program which is conducted by the inventor at the inventor's nursery in West Sussex, United Kingdom. The breeding program commenced in 2006 with the aim of developing new and improved commercial varieties of. Each year's breeding cycle consists of controlled pollination between chosen male and female parents including unnamed and unreleased seedlings retained from previous breeding cycles. Seed from each year's cycle is harvested and sown in the fall, and new seedlings are raised and evaluated in the following summer.

‘Real Jewel’ is a seedling selection that resulted from the controlled pollination in 2011 of a single plant of the inventor's proprietaryseedling code L1203-1 (unreleased and unpatented) as the female parent, using pollen from a single plant of the inventor's proprietaryseedling code L1128-5 (unreleased and unpatented) as the male parent. The inventor selected ‘Real Jewel’ in 2014 for its combination of tight clumping basal branching and upright habit, small narrow foliage and inflorescences which vary from cream to yellow in color of which many of the inflorescences are bright and deep yellow in color. The inflorescences of ‘Real Jewel’ are held on vertically erect stiff and rigid flower stems.

‘Real Jewel’ was first asexually propagated by the inventor in West Sussex, United Kingdom in 2018 using the method of vegetative division and subsequently by basal shoot cuttings. Since that time under careful observation ‘Real Jewel’ has been determined uniform, stable and true to type in subsequent generations of asexual propagation.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and represent the distinguishing characteristics of ‘Real Jewel’. In combination, these traits set ‘Real Jewel’ apart from all other existing varieties ofknown to the inventor. ‘Real Jewel’ has not been tested under all possible conditions and phenotypic differences may be observed with variations in environmental, climatic, and cultural conditions, however, without any variance in genotype.

The following is a detailed botanical description of the new cultivar ‘Real Jewel’. Observations, measurements, values and comparisons were collected in Santa Barbara, California during April 2022, from a 4-year-old plant growing outdoors in 2-gallon container. The observed plant had been pinched at 5 cm above soil and grown-on without any pruning or use of chemical growth regulators. Color determinations are made in accordance with the 2007 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart from London, England, except where general color terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

In comparison with both of its parents, plants of ‘Real Jewel’ are shorter and more compact florets, with a dense canopy of small narrow leaves. The parent selections bear cream to light yellow ray florets whereas the ray florets of ‘Real Jewel’ are bright deep yellow in color.

The commercial variety ofwhich the inventor considers to most closely resemble ‘Real Jewel’ is the inventor's variety ofPlant Named ‘Real Cream’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 35,400). The inflorescences of ‘Real Jewel’ are flat cylindrical in shape whereas the inflorescences of ‘Real Cream’ are flat. ‘Real Jewel’ bears many more (typically 60, closely packed and overlapping) ray florets borne in three whorls whereas ‘Real Cream’ which bears approximately 30 non-overlapping ray florets in one whorl only.