A Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob’ Has White to Light Green Flowers

Summary: A Helleborus plant named ‘HGC Jacob,’ invented by German helleborist Josef Heuger, has white to light green flowers and dark green leaves.

Helleborus ‘HGC Jacob,’ Swanson’s Nursery, Blue Ridge area, Seattle, Washington, Feb. 15, 2015: Peter Stevens (nordique), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

A Helleborus plant named ‘HGC Jacob,’ a newly cultivated variety of black hellebore (Helleborus niger) by German hybridizer Josef Heuger, has white to light green flowers and dark green leaves.

On Dec. 30, 2005, German hellebore hybridizer Josef Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a Helleborus plant named ‘HGC Jacob.’ The inventor’s family business, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, has created its Helleborus Gold Collection® as a globally recognized brand of highest quality hellebores.

As primary examiner, Kent Bell reviewed Heuger's application. On June 12, 2007, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 17,799 to a Helleborus plant named 'HGC Jacob.'"

Helleborus ‘HGC Jacob’ originates in a cross-pollination program that Josef Heuger conducted in December 1999. The program’s objective was the creation of attractively colored, early and lengthily blooming new varieties of Heleborus niger, known commonly as black hellebore or Christmas rose. The cross-pollination of two proprietary selections of unnamed, unpatented Helleborus niger seedlings took place in a controlled environment at the Heuger family nursery in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany.

The inventor discovered and selected a single flowering plant, now identified as ‘HGC Jacob,’ from the program’s progeny. Propagation by divisions showed the stable and true reproduction of the selected plant’s desirable features.

The application’s description is based upon plants grown during winter in 13-centimeter (5.11-inch) containers in Heuger horticulturists’ glass-covered greenhouse. Day temperatures during production was around 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Night temperatures were about 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

The application compares ‘HGC Jacob’ with another patented Heuger cultivar, Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho.’ Granted as plant patent PP15,640, ‘HGC Jericho’ is characterized as an early bloomer, with a flowering season from October to February. ‘HGC Jericho’ has large, slightly fragrant white flowers and dark green leaves.

‘HGC Jericho’ reaches a height of about 16 centimeters (6.29 inches) and spreads to a diameter of about 27 centimeters (10.62 inches). Contrastingly, ‘HGC Jacob’ is a larger cultivar. The new cultivar grows to about 18 centimeters (7.08 inches) in height and spreads to about 33 centimeters (12.99 inches).

‘HGC Jacob’ has compact, mounded growth that is moderately vigorous. Foliage forms at plant base as basal leaves.

Palmately compound leaves consist of five to seven serrated leaflets. Lanceolate (Latin: lanceolatus, “lance-shaped”) leaflets are leathery with smooth surfaces.

Leaflet length ranges from about 4.5 to 7.5 centimeters (1.77 to 2.95 inches). Leaflet width ranges from about 1.2 to 3.5 centimeters (0.59 to 1.37 inches).

Mature leaflets have dark green (Royal Horticultural Society color 147A) upper surfaces with brown green (RHS 146B, 146C) venation. Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 137C) with brown green (RHS 146C) veins.

‘HGC Jacob’ puts forth about 15 flowers over a natural flowering season lasting from November to December. Each flower lasts about 10 days.

Upright, outward-facing flowers comprise single whorls of five to seven sepals. Sepal length is about 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches). Sepal width is about 2.5 centimeters (0.98 inches).

Sepal shape is broadly ovate (Latin: ovatus, “egg-shaped”). Rounded tips terminate acutely as distinct points. Sepal edges and surfaces are satiny smooth.

Upper and lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals are white (RHS 155D). With development, sepal color becomes light green (RHS 144B, 144C).

A Helleborus plant named ‘HGC Jacob’ shows well in indoor and outdoor settings. The new hellebore variety’s hardiness withstands temperatures ranging from 12 to 36 degrees Celsius (53.6 to 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Appealing colors and shape combine with desirable late autumn and early winter flowering to make ‘HGC Jacob’ an attractive, important component in holiday gardens.

Patent application for 'HGC Jacob' (left) compares the newly cultivated variety with another patented Heuger cultivar, 'HGC Jericho' (right): cultivar images included in 'HGC Jacob' patent application, filed Dec. 30, 2005, and 'HGC Jericho' patent application, filed June 28, 2004: Josef Heuger, Public Domain, via U.S. Parent and Trademark Office

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Helleborus ‘Jacob,’ Swanson’s Nursery, Blue Ridge area, Seattle, King County, Washington, Feb. 15, 2015: Peter Stevens (nordique), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique/16356029208/

'HGC Jacob' (left) and ‘HGC Jericho’ (right) images included in patent applications filed, respectively, Dec. 30, 2005, and June 28, 2004, with United States Patent and Trademark Office: Josef Heuger, Public Domain, via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP017799 and http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015640

For further information:

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

“Europe: Room for Innovation in Hellebore Market.” Floral Daily.
Available @ http://www.floraldaily.com/article/1798/Europe-Room-for-innovation-in-hellebore-market

"Hellebore (Helleborus niger Gold Collection® Jacob)." The National Gardening Association > Plants Database > Hellebores.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/236934/Hellebore-Helleborus-niger-Gold-Collection-Jacob/

“Helleborus Gold Collection® Gardeners Notes.” Skagit Gardens.
Available @ http://www.skagitgardens.com/_ccLib/image/plants/PDF-152.pdf

“Helleborus Gold Collection® Growers Notes.” Skagit Gardens.
Available @ http://www.skagitgardens.com/_ccLib/image/plants/PDF3-152.pdf

“Helleborus Gold Collection Trademark Information.” Trademarkia > Trademark Search > Trademark Category > Natural Agricultural Products.
Available @ http://www.trademarkia.com/helleborus-gold-collection-77036593.html

“Helleborus niger Gold Collection® Jacob.” Skagit Gardens.
Available @ http://www.skagitgardens.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=121

"Helleborus niger 'HGC Jacob.'" Heritage Perennials > Advanced Perennial Search.
Available @ http://www.perennials.com/plants/helleborus-niger-hgc-jacob.html

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). June 12, 2007.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP017799

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jericho.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 8, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015640

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents.”  UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.org/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc/2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

"PP17799 -- Helleborus Plant Named HGC Jacob." University of Maryland Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/13764

Rice, Graham; Elizabeth Strangman. The Gardener's Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, England: David and Charles, 2005.