Chrysanthemum named Dark Westland

#My new cultivar of the spider type of chrysanthemum was discovered by me in 1976 as a sport in a field of "Westland" being grown by me in greenhouse at DeLier, Holland, for test and breeding purposes. The improved color of this sport and its much improved color retention led me to reproduce the sport for further observation, which I did by means of cuttings, at DeLier. Subsequently, this new variety was propagated through many successive generations, from which it was observed that the novel characteristics of the new plant would hold true from generation to generation and appeared to be firmly fixed. This new plant is now being propagated on a commercial scale, by means of cuttings, at Parrish, Fla., U.S.A.

#This new chrysanthemum cultivar is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, of which sheet one is a print showing flowers of parent and mutant varieties which have been hand colored to show their true coloration, the new Dark Westland flower being at the right; sheet two is a mechanical reproduction of a photoprint of the front side of typical leaves of the new plant; and sheet three is a mechanical reproduction showing the back side of the same leaves.

#The following is a detailed description of my new variety of chrysanthemum based upon observations of greenhouse plants made during the winter of 1980 at West Chicago, Ill., U.S.A., with color designations according to The R.H.S. Colour Chart published by The Royal Horticultural Society of London, England.

#Origin: Sport.

#Parentage: "Westland," U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,589.