Goeppertia 'TWYCA0019 2'

Goeppertia 'TWYCA0019 2' is a cultivar of hybrid origin in the family Marantaceae. It arose as a sport — a vegetative mutation — from the Calathea hybrid 'Indri', itself a planned cross between Calathea loesenerii J.F.Macbr. and Calathea roseo picta [1][3]. At the time U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 was filed and granted, the plant was classified under Calathea, the genus name then in standard use. In 2012, Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince published a molecular phylogenetic revision in Systematic Botany demonstrating that Calathea G.Mey. as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic, and transferred 246 species-level names to Goeppertia Nees [2]. The parent species Calathea loesenerii J.F.Macbr. was among those transferred, becoming Goeppertia loeseneri (J.F.Macbr.) Borchs. & S.Suárez at Systematic Botany 37(3): 632 [2]. Accordingly, this cultivar is referred to under Goeppertia in current botanical usage, even though the granted patent retains the name Calathea throughout.

The cultivar is characterised by a tall upright branching habit, large ovate to elliptical medium-green leaves bearing silver-green markings, and pink and green bracted inflorescences held above the foliage [1]. Its primary distinction from the parent 'Indri' is the colour of the lower leaf surface: green in 'TWYCA0019 2' versus purple in 'Indri', as stated in PP20060 [1].

Three distinct name classes apply to cultivated plants under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP): the registered cultivar epithet, any trade designation, and the patent denomination. These are not interchangeable, even when the underlying character string is identical.

Cultivar epithet. The cultivar epithet for this plant is 'TWYCA0019 2'. The ICNCP requires a cultivar epithet to be enclosed in single quotation marks, as used throughout this record. The epithet derives directly from the string used in U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 [1].

Patent denomination. U.S. Plant Patent PP20060, granted 2009-06-09, records the denomination as 'TWYCA0019 2' [1]. The denomination as printed in the patent document appears without the single quotation marks that the ICNCP convention requires for a cultivar epithet. A patent denomination and a cultivar epithet are distinct name classes under the ICNCP even when the strings match; the former is a legal instrument of intellectual property, the latter a nomenclatural designation under an international code.

Trade designation. U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 does not establish any trade designation separate from the denomination 'TWYCA0019 2' [1]. No authoritative source for a separate trade designation has been located. The patent is silent on this point, and no trade name is attributed to this cultivar in this record.

No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae [4]. In the absence of such an authority, no formal registration of the cultivar epithet under the ICNCP is recorded. The patent provides the sole authoritative name documentation for this cultivar.

U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 records that this cultivar arose as a sport from the Calathea hybrid 'Indri' (U.S. Plant Patent PP16028) [1]. A sport is a vegetative mutation; no pollen parent or seed parent relationship applies to a sport-derived selection. The sport was discovered in spring 2005 in Apopka, Florida, and a single plant selection was chosen for further evaluation [1]. First asexual propagation took place in summer 2005, also in Apopka, Florida [1].

The inventors named in PP20060 are Gregori Garnadi Hambali and Marianne E. Knauss [1]. The patent was assigned to Kerrys Bromeliad Nursery Inc., doing business as Twyford International [1]. Gregori Garnadi Hambali is also named as the sole inventor of the parent cultivar 'Indri' in U.S. Plant Patent PP16028, where a planned breeding program conducted in Bogor, Indonesia, is described as the origin of that parent hybrid [3].

U.S. Plant Patent PP16028 identifies 'Indri' as a planned hybrid between Calathea loesenerii J.F.Macbr. and Calathea roseo picta [3], providing the genetic context from which the sport 'TWYCA0019 2' emerged. PP20060 records that the cultivar has been asexually reproduced by division and tissue culture over multiple generations and that its distinctive characteristics have been retained through successive asexual propagations [1].

No originator information beyond what U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 and U.S. Plant Patent PP16028 state is documented in any authoritative source located during this research.

U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 was filed on 2007-08-21 under application number US11/894,578, and was granted on 2009-06-09 [1]. The patent was granted to Kerrys Bromeliad Nursery Inc., doing business as Twyford International, as assignee, with Gregori Garnadi Hambali and Marianne E. Knauss named as joint inventors [1].

Under United States law, a plant patent confers the right to exclude others from asexually reproducing, using, offering for sale, or selling the patented plant in the United States, or importing it into the United States. The term of a U.S. plant patent is 20 years from the application date. The application date recorded for PP20060 is 2007-08-21; accordingly, the statutory term runs from that date [1].

U.S. Plant Patent PP16028, which covers the parent cultivar 'Indri', is recorded in the Google Patents database as expired, indicating that patent has lapsed [3]. The lapse of the parent patent does not affect any protection conferred independently by PP20060 on the sport 'TWYCA0019 2'. The patents are separate instruments covering distinct plant selections.

PP20060 does not establish any trade designation, trademark, or marketing name. The denomination recorded in the patent is 'TWYCA0019 2' [1], which is the string that also serves as the cultivar epithet in this registry. No separate commercial designation is established by the patent record.

The distinguishing characters stated in U.S. Plant Patent PP20060 are as follows [1]. The primary distinguishing character separating 'TWYCA0019 2' from its parent 'Indri' is the colour of the lower leaf surface: it is described as green in 'TWYCA0019 2', whereas in 'Indri' it is described as purple. Additional characters stated in PP20060 include: a tall, upright branching habit; large ovate to elliptical medium-green leaves bearing silver-green markings; and pink and green bracted inflorescences held above the foliage.

For comparative context, U.S. Plant Patent PP16028 describes the parent 'Indri' as having an upright and broad outwardly spreading growth habit, elliptic-shaped dark green and metallic silver-green leaves often variably tinged with pink when developing, and long-lasting inflorescences with green and pink-coloured bracts held above the foliage on strong scapes [3]. The principal morphological departure of 'TWYCA0019 2' from this parental description, as stated in PP20060, is confined to the lower leaf surface coloration [1].

PP20060 also records that the cultivar was grown and evaluated in a polyethylene-covered greenhouse environment at Apopka, Florida, and that it reproduced true to its distinguishing characters across multiple generations of asexual propagation [1]. The traits listed above reflect the description as stated in the patent; no independent peer-reviewed evaluation of these characters has been located.

No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae [4]. The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) appoints ICRAs through its Commission on Cultivar Registration, and those authorities operate within the provisions of the ICNCP; no Marantaceae ICRA appears in the ISHS Commission on Cultivar Registration records [4]. By contrast, the International Aroid Society holds appointment as the ICRA for Araceae [5]. Marantaceae is a distinct monocot family and falls outside that appointment.

In the absence of an appointed authority, cultivar epithets for Goeppertia and related Marantaceae genera are not subject to formal registration under the ICNCP. U.S. plant patents function as a parallel and independent legal mechanism: PP20060 establishes the denomination 'TWYCA0019 2' as a matter of intellectual property law, not as a formally registered cultivar epithet under the ICNCP [1]. The two systems — patent law and the ICNCP — are distinct, and the denomination recorded in the patent and the cultivar epithet used in botanical and horticultural records are distinct name classes even when the character string is identical.

Digital Towns is an applicant and aggregator. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by ISHS or any appointed ICRA.

The primary documentary source for this cultivar is U.S. Plant Patent PP20060, granted 2009-06-09, which establishes the denomination, identifies the inventors and assignee, records the sport origin from 'Indri', states the discovery and propagation dates and location, and provides the morphological description distinguishing the selection [1]. The parent cultivar 'Indri' is documented in U.S. Plant Patent PP16028, which provides its parentage and distinguishing characters and names Gregori Garnadi Hambali as inventor [3].

The generic transfer that makes Goeppertia the current accepted name for this cultivar's genus is documented in Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince (2012), Systematic Botany 37(3): 620–635, which published 246 Calathea-to-Goeppertia combinations following a molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrating polyphyly in Calathea as previously circumscribed [2]. The transfer of the relevant parent species, Calathea loesenerii, is recorded at page 632 of that publication [2].

No peer-reviewed horticultural evaluation, university extension publication, or botanic garden cultivation record for this specific cultivar has been located during this research. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.