Caladium plant named ‘Florida Red Ruffles’

#The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Caladium plant, botanically known as Caladium×hortulanum, commercially referred to as lance-leaf Caladium, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Florida Red Ruffles.

#The new cultivar is a product of a planned and controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Bradenton, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create densely-foliated compact Caladium cultivars with lanceolate-shaped leaves. The new cultivar originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1982 of a proprietary lance-leaf Caladium selection identified as code number GC80-287, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Caladium cultivar Red Frill, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Florida Red Ruffles was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Bradenton, Fla., in 1985.

#Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by tuber divisions since 1985, in Bradenton, Fla., has shown that the unique features of this new Caladium plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.

#The accompanying colored photograph illustrates the overall appearance of the new cultivar, showing the colors as true as it is reasonably possible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photograph may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description which accurately describe the colors of the new Caladium. The photograph comprises a side perspective view of a typical 7-week old plant of ‘Florida Red Ruffles’.

#The following observations, measurements and comparisons describe 7-week old plants (from planting a tuber division) grown in Bradenton, Fla., during the summer in a shaded glass-covered greenhouse and under commercial production conditions in 15-cm containers. During the production of the plants, day temperatures ranged from 32 to 35° C., night temperatures ranged from 18 to 21° C., and light levels were about 5,000 to 6,000 foot-candles.

#In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

#Botanical classification: Caladium×hortulanum cultivar Florida Red Ruffles.