Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper,’ a Helleborus niger cultivar by German helleborist Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and dark green leaves.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878417, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,615; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper,’ a Christmas rose, or black hellebore (Helleborus niger), cultivar by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and dark green leaves.

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for a Helleborus plant named ‘HGC Josef Lemper.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 1, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,615 to Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper.’

Helleborus ‘Josef Lemper’ has its origins in a breeding program conducted in November 1997 by Heuger at his family’s nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. Unnamed, unpatented female and male Helleborus niger seedlings were cross-pollinated. The inventor discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ from among the program’s progeny.

Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ displayed distinctive traits of upright habit, dark green foliage and relatively early blooming of large white flowers. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2000, revealed the retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s unique traits.

The patent application describes plants, about 6 months old, that were grown inside the Heuger nursery’s glass-covered greenhouse during winter in 15-centimeter (5.9-inch) containers. During production, day temperatures were at about 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Night temperatures were at about 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F).

The application indicates a temperature tolerance ranging from minus 15 to 36 degrees C (5 to 96.8 degrees F).

The upright plant has a moderately vigorous growth habit and a freely flowering habit. Height reaches about 27 centimeters (10.62 inches). Spread, or width, measures about 33 centimeters (12.99 inches).

Foliage emerges in a basal arrangement of palmately compound leaves. Six to nine leaflets radiate from the leaf’s single attachment point, the distal, or far, end of the petiole, or leaf stalk.

Leaflet length measures about 4.5 to 8 centimeters (1.77 to 3.14 inches). Leaflet width is about 2.5 to 3 centimeters (0.98 to 1.18 inches).

Leaflets are lanceolate, or lance-shaped. Their margins are serrated. Glabrous textures of upper and lower surfaces are hairlessly smooth.

Upper surfaces of fully developed leaflets are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart color 137A). Veins are colored brown green (RHS 146C).

Lower surfaces of fully developed leaflets are brown green (RHS 147B). Veins are colored brown green (RHS 146D).

Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ has a naturally early flowering season. Intermittent flowering occurs from October to February in Glandorf. On the plant, flowers last about 10 days.

Buds are ovoid, or egg-shaped. Their height is about 2 centimeters (0.78 inches), with a diameter of about 1.2 centimeters (0.47 inches). Coloring is white (RHS 155A).

Single rounded flowers, with upright to outward faces, singly top upright peduncles, or floral stems. The slightly fragrant hellebore’s freely flowering habit yields about 15 developed flowers per plant at one time.

Peduncles have length ranges of about 15 to 25 centimeters (5.9 to 9.84 inches). Diameters range from about 4 to 7 millimeters (0.15 to 0.27 inches). Strong and upright, peduncles have glabrous textures that are hairlessly smooth. Peduncle coloring is light green (RHS 145B) with brown purple (RHS 183A) spots.

Flowers have tiny petals that form inconspicuous nectaries. Sepals typically number five, arranged in a single whorl.

Sepal length is about 4.5 centimeters (1.77 inches). Sepal width is about 4 centimeters (1.57 inches).

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have rounded apices, or tips. Entire margins are smooth and untoothed. Texture of upper and lower surfaces is described as satiny and glabrous, with hairless smoothness.

Upper and lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals is very white (whiter than RHS 155D). Toward the base coloring is light green (RHS 144B). With development, coloring nears dark green (RHS 144A).

Heuger’s 2015-2016 Helleborus catalog sells ‘HGC Josef Lemper’℗, described as having medium growth vigor, in containers sized 13 to 15 centimeters (5.11 to 5.90 inches). Heating, at a maximum of 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F), should start at the end of November. Selling is targeted for the beginning of December.

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ is the large white flowered, dark green leafed cultivar’s availability, in fresh cut arrangements and in pots, over a lengthy, autumn to late winter blooming period.

closeup of flower and peduncle of Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878417, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,615; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878417, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,615; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP15615; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15615.pdf)

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ flower and peduncle in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed Monday, June 28, 2004, as application number 10/878417, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP15,615; Date of Patent March 1, 2005; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP15615; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15615.pdf)

For further information:

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

“Hellebore (Helleborus niger Gold Collection® Josef Lemper).” The National Gardening Association > Plants Database > Hellebores.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/236933/Hellebore-Helleborus-niger-Gold-Collection-Josef-Lemper/

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Josef Lemper.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 1, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015615

“’HGC Josef Lemper’℗.” Heuger > Katalog Helleborus 2015-2016.
Available @ http://www.heuger.com/fileadmin/lookbook/page4.html#/18

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents. Section 2: Botanical Terms: Subsection 3: Color: (2): Color Names for the RHS Colour Chart.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc?2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ Has Large White Flowers and Sells as ‘HGC Joel’®.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-coseh-210-has-large-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 710’ Has Light Green Flowers With Reddish Pink Flushes.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-710-has-light-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 740’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-740-has-white-flowers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ Has Purple-Spotted White Double Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-double-surprise-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘COSEH 700’ Has Large Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-coseh-700-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob’ Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-hgc-jacob-has.html

“PP15615 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Josef Lemper.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11581

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