Shrub rose plant named ‘AUSB44A16’

This application claims priority to Plant Breeders' Right Application No. 20242225, which was filed at Community Plant Variety Office in the European Union on Sep. 24, 2024, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

Latin name of genus and species of plant claimed:

Variety denomination: ‘AUSB44A16’.

The first sale and offer for sale of the new variety was May 20, 2024, in the United Kingdom at a trade show. The first offer for sale and first sale of the new variety, and subsequent offer for sales and sales, was by the inventor or another who obtained the new variety directly or indirectly from the inventor. No plants of the new variety have been sold in this country or anywhere in the world, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made, more than one year prior the effective filing date of this application, and such sale or disclosure within one year was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor.

The new variety of shrub rose plant of the present invention was created by controlled breeding during 2013, in Albrighton, England by artificial pollination wherein two parents were crossed which previously had been studied in the hope that they would contribute the desired characteristics. The female parent (i.e., the seed parent) of the new variety an unnamed seedling (not patented). The male parent (i.e., the pollen parent) of the new variety was a different unnamed seedling (not patented).

The parentage of the new variety can be summarized as follows:

The seeds resulting from the above pollination were sown in January 2014, and small plants were obtained which were physically and biologically different from each other. Selective study resulted in the identification of a single plant of the new variety in July 2014. Eight buds from the selected single plant of the new variety were taken and grafted, using the T-budding method, onto Rosa laxa rootstock. From 2015-2023, the new variety was grown and assessed and reselected for continued evaluation.

The new variety has been found to undergo asexual propagation in Albrighton, England by a number of routes such as vegetative grafting on to Rosa laxa. Asexual propagation techniques in Albrighton, England, such as vegetative grafting, have shown that the characteristics of the new variety are homogeneous, stable, and strictly transmissible by such asexual propagation from one generation to another. Accordingly, the new variety undergoes asexual propagation in a true-to-type manner.

It was found that the new variety of shrub rose plant of the present invention possesses the following combination of characteristics:

The new variety well meets the needs of the horticultural industry. It can be grown to advantage as ornamentation in parks, gardens, public areas, and residential landscapes. Accordingly, it is particularly well suited for growing in the landscape.

The new variety can be readily distinguished from its ancestors. More specifically, the new variety displays flowers with more petals, which are smaller in size compared to the unnamed seedling female parent (i.e., the seed parent). Additionally, the different unnamed seedling male parent (i.e., the pollen parent) provides flowers which are apricot, orange in color and is an overall larger plant compared to the new variety. Moreover, the new variety can be readily distinguished from non-parental related similar varieties. For example, the ‘AUSkitchen’ variety (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23099) produces smaller sized leaves and flowers with fewer petals compared to leaves and flowers produced by the new variety.

The new variety has been named the ‘AUSB44A16’ variety.

The chart used in the identification of colors is that of The Royal Horticultural Society (The R.H.S. Colour Chart, 2015 edition). The terminology which precedes reference to the chart has been added to indicate the corresponding color in more common terms and the color designation used herein represents the closest color observed on the majority of the specified botanical feature. The description is based on seven-years-old specimens of the new variety, observed during May 2024, while growing in a garden environment at Albrighton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

The new ‘AUSB44A16’ variety has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions to date. Accordingly, it is possible that the phenotypic expression may vary somewhat with changes in light intensity and duration, cultural practices, and other environmental conditions.