Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ Has Green- and Pink-Tinted Ivory White Flowers

Summary: Helleborus ‘Walhelivor,’ by British plant breeder David Tristram, has green- and pink-tinted ivory white flowers and sells as ‘Ivory Prince.’

top view of Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ in images included in David Tristram’s patent application, filed Monday, May 3, 2004, as application number 10/836139, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP16,199; Date of Patent Jan. 10, 2006; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘Walhelivor,’ by British plant breeder and nursery owner David Tristram, has green- and pink-tinted ivory white flowers and sells as ‘Ivory Prince’ in Tristram’s Walberton’s® series.

On May 3, 2004, David Tristram filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for ‘Walhelivor’ as a Helleborus hybrid. Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Louanne Krawczewicz Myers reviewed the application. On Jan. 10, 2006, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 16,199 to Helleborus ‘Walhelivor.’

‘Walhelivor’ originated in a breeding program established in 1980 by David Tristram as owner of Walberton Nursery. His nursery is based in the village and civil parish of Walberton, Arun District, in south England’s West Sussex County. His breeding program aimed for the production of flat-flowered Helleborus cultivars with vigorous growth rates and upright habits.

Tristram’s program entailed assembling and hybridizing various Helleborus plants and seed strains. Seedlings of Helleborus niger, Helleborus x nigercors and Helleborus x ericsmithii were hybridized. The program also included selected seedlings of Helleborus niger ‘Potter’s Wheel,’ a distinct, unpatented variety discovered as a self-sown seedling by the inventor’s father, Major G.H. Tristram.

David Tristram grew each year’s hybridized seedlings to first year flowering and retained promising selections for second year evaluation. In 1995, he selected ‘Walhelivor’ as a single plant from among the year’s promising collection. Thus, the parentage of Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ is unknown.

Propagation via tissue culture began in 1999. Successive generations retained and truly reproduced the vigorous perennial’s unique features. The hellebore’s distinguishing characteristics include compact and upright form, vigorous growth rate and crop uniformity. Flat, large, prolific flowers open as ivory white, display pink tinges at maturity and age to green.

Tristram’s patent application describes 2-year-old plants grown outdoors in 2-gallon containers in Arroyo Grande, southwestern San Luis Obispo County, central California. Soil preference is deep, fertile and rich with humus.

Sunlight requirements call for moderate to filtered shade. Best performance occurs under deciduous trees.

At two years, ‘Walhelivor’ reaches a height of 46 centimeters (18.11 inches). Its spread, or width, measures 51 centimeters (20.07 inches).

Evergreen foliage comprises three to seven leaflets per leaf. Leaflet shape is ovate, or egg-shaped. Margins are serrated.

Leaflets present a semi-glossy appearance. Their surfaces are described as glabrous, with smooth textures lacking down or hair.

Leaflet lengths range from 7 to 10 centimeters (2.75 to 3.93 inches). Widths range from 3.5 to 6.5 centimeters (1.37 to 2.55 inches).

Upper surfaces of leaflets display color zones of brown green (Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart color 189A) and green grey (RHS 191C). Lower surfaces have color zones of brown green (RHS 191A) and brown purple (RHS 187A).

Nut-shaped floral buds are 1.75 centimeters (0.68 inches) in length. Bud width is 1.25 centimeters (0.49 inches).

Light yellow brown (RHS 158D), brown green (RHS 148D) and brown red (RHS 182B) are all present as individual colors on each bud.

Two oval-shaped bracts subtend, or underlie, each bud. Margins are mostly entire, or smooth, but a few small teeth may be present. Glabrous bract surfaces are smooth and lack down or hair.

Bract width is 1.25 centimeters (0.49 inches). Length is 2.50 centimeters (0.98 inches).

Bracts’ upper surfaces are brown green (RHS 138A). Brown green (RHS 138B) and brown red (RHS 182B) are both present as individual colors on lower surfaces.

side view of Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ in images included in David Tristram’s patent application, filed Monday, May 3, 2004, as application number 10/836139, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP16,199; Date of Patent Jan. 10, 2006; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ flowers prolifically during its winter and spring blooming season. A 2-year-old plant bears six spikes of 12 flowers each. Flowers have no detectable fragrance.

Nodding flowers, comprising five sepals, are stellate, or star-shaped. Sepals have ovate to orbicular shapes, with rounded apices, or tips.

Upper and lower surfaces of sepals have minute, soft downy hairs, described as puberulent. Margins are smooth, described as entire.

Sepal length measures 2.5 centimeters (0.98 inches) and increases to 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches) with age. Sepal width measures 2 centimeters (0.78 inches) and increases to 2.5 centimeters (0.98 inches) with age.

Light yellow brown (RHS 158C), brown red (RHS 182B) and brown green (RHS 148D) are all present as individual colors on both upper and lower surfaces over the course of the blooming period.

Flowers retain their shapes for two months. Individual flowers last 10 days on the plant. In fresh, cut arrangements, flowers last five to eight days.

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ is that the captivating hellebore with green- and pink-tinted ivory white flowers sells beautifully under the trade name of ‘Ivory Prince’ in David Tristram’s Walberton® series.

In garden: ‘Ivory Prince’ hellebore (Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’) with starch grape hyacinth (Muscari neglectum), Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday, April 20, 2012, 15:32:28: Andrey Zharkikh (andrey-zharkikh), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

top view of Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ in images included in David Tristram’s patent application, filed Monday, May 3, 2004, as application number 10/836139, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP16,199; Date of Patent Jan. 10, 2006; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP16199; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/16100/pp16199.pdf)

side view of Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ in images included in David Tristram’s patent application, filed Monday, May 3, 2004, as application number 10/836139, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP16,199; Date of Patent Jan. 10, 2006; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP16199; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/16100/pp16199.pdf)

In garden: ‘Ivory Prince’ hellebore (Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’) with starch grape hyacinth (Muscari neglectum), Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday, April 20, 2012, 15:32:28: Andrey Zharkikh (andrey-zharkikh), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/10703259955/

For further information:

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

“Hellebore (Helleborus Walberton’s® Ivory Prince).” The National Gardening Association > Plants Database > Hellebores.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/163613/Hellebore-Helleborus-Walbertons-Ivory-Prince/

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘Walhelivor.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). Jan. 10, 2006.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP016199

“Helleborus x nigersmithii Ivory Prince.’” Heritage Perennials > Advanced Perennial Search.
Available @ http://www.perennials.com/plants/helleborus-nigersmithii-ivory-prince.html

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 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

“A ‘Potted’ History.” Walberton Nursery > History.
Available @ http://www.walberton-nursery.co.uk/history/

“PP16199 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘Walhelivor.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/12165

Rice, Graham. “The Holy Grail of Hellebores!” Royal Horticultural Society’s My Garden > Blogs. Aug. 30, 2008.
Available @ http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/blogs/graham_rice/archive/2008/08/30/the-holy-grail-of-hellebores.aspx

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

“Walberton’s® Introductions.” Walberton Nursery.
Available @ http://www.walberton-nursery.co.uk/walbertons-introductions/