Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ Has Large White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho,’ a Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) cultivar by German breeder Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and dark green leaves.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15640.pdf

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho,’ a Christmas rose, or black hellebore (Helleborus niger), cultivated 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 Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 8, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,640 to Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho.’

‘HGC Jericho’ has its origins in a breeding program conducted by the inventor in November 1997. A cross-pollination of unnamed, unpatented female and male Helleborus niger seedlings took place in a controlled environment at the Heuger family nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. Heuger discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ from among the cross-pollinated parents’ progeny.

‘HGC Jericho’ displayed unique traits of compact plant habit; attractively colored flowers and foliage; relatively early and lengthy blooming period. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2000, showed the retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s distinctive traits over successive generations.

The patent application described plants, at approximately 6 months old, that were grown indoors in 15-centimeter (5.9-inch) containers during winter. During production, temperatures in the glass-covered greenhouse in Glandorf registered 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F) during the night.

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ has a temperature tolerance ranging from minus 15 to 36 degrees C (5 to 96.8 degrees F).

‘HGC Jericho’ hellebore’s growth habit is moderately vigorous. Its plant habit is compact, with basal leaves and single flowers. ‘HGC Jericho’ measures a height of about 16 centimeters (6.29 inches). Its spread, or width, is about 27 centimeters (10.62 inches).

Basal foliage features a palmately compound arrangement. Each leaf comprises four to nine leaflets.

Leaflet lengths range from about 5 to 8.5 centimeters (1.96 to 3.34 inches). Leaflet widths measure from about 1.5 to 4 centimeters (0.59 to 1.57 inches).

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, leaflets have serrated margins. Glabrously textured upper and lower surfaces are hairlessly smooth.

Upper surfaces of fully expanded leaflets are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart 147A). Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 147B). Veins of upper and lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 146C).

Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ has a naturally early and lengthy blooming season. Intermittent flowering happens from October to February in Glandorf. A freely flowering habit produces about 15 developed flowers per plant over the blooming season. On the plant, slightly fragrant flowers last about 10 days.

Ovoid, or egg-shaped, buds measure about 1.5 centimeters (0.59 inches) in height. Bud diameter is about 9 millimeters (0.35 inches). Bud color is light green (RHS 145C).

Each flower has about seven to nine sepals, arranged in a single whorl. Tiny petals form inconspicuous nectaries.

Sepal length is about 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches). Sepal width is about 3 centimeters (1.18 inches).

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have smooth margins, described as entire. Glabrously textured upper and lower surfaces are satiny and hairlessly smooth.

Upper and lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals are white (RHS 155D). With development, coloring approaches light green (RHS 145B).

Flowers present outward, upright faces atop strong, upright peduncles, or floral stalks. Glabrous peduncles are hairlessly smooth. Peduncle coloring is light green (RHS 145A).

Peduncles measure lengths of about 5 to 15 centimeters (1.96 to 5.90-inches). Diameters range from 3 to 5 millimeters (0.11 to 0.19 inches).

Heuger’s 2015-2016 hellebore catalog sells ‘HGC Jericho’℗ in containers sized 11 to 15 centimeters (4.33 to 5.9 inches). Its growth is described as compact. The catalog targets the beginning of November as the start date for selling ‘HGC Joshua’℗.

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ is the lengthy enjoyment of the hellebore’s large white flowers and dark green leaves, in fresh cut arrangements or in in-ground or potted garden niches, that is afforded by an early and lengthy flowering that begins in October and lasts into February.

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15640.pdf

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 Jericho’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15640.pdf

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Jericho’ flower in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15600/pp15640.pdf

For further information:

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

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. “Not Your Mother’s Hellebores: A New Look at Species and Hybrids (Part 2).” Pacific Horticulture magazine. January 2008.
Available @ http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/not-your-mothers-hellebores-part-2/

“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

“HGC Jericho’℗. Heuger > Katalog Helleborus 2015-2016.
Available @ http://www.heuger.com/fileadmin/lookbook/page1.html#/16

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. “Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-josef-lemper-has-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ Has Red Purple-Spotted White Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-lady-freckle-has-red.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘HGC Silvermoon' Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/helleborus-hgc-silvermoon-has-white-to.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

“PP15640 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jericho.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11606

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