Overview
The cultivar epithet 'Rosy' is applied to a selection within Goeppertia roseopicta (Linden ex Lem.) Borchs. & S.Suárez, the accepted botanical name for the parent species as recorded by Plants of the World Online [1]. The species is one of approximately 260 accepted species in Goeppertia Nees, the largest genus in Marantaceae, as circumscribed by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in 2012 [2]. Plants of the World Online records the native range as western South America to western Brazil, encompassing Brazil North, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in the wet tropical biome [1]. The Missouri Botanical Garden describes the species as noted for its variegated leaves and cultivated in shaded outdoor settings in wet tropical and subtropical regions as an ornamental foliage plant [4].
Names
Registered epithet. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants requires that a cultivar epithet be enclosed in single quotation marks and not italicised, yielding the correct written form 'Rosy'. No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae [2], so no formal registration record or deposited description exists for this epithet with any appointed authority.
Trade designation. No trade designation distinct from the cultivar epithet 'Rosy' has been located in any authoritative source. U.S. Plant Patent PP20061 does not introduce or establish a trade designation for this cultivar, and it is not possible to attribute one on the basis of that record [3].
Patent denomination. U.S. Plant Patent PP20061 identifies the male parent of the hybrid cultivar 'TWYCA0026' as Calathea roseopicta 'Rosy' [3]. This constitutes documentary evidence that the denomination was in use within a named breeding programme, but PP20061 covers the hybrid 'TWYCA0026' and does not extend protection to the parental line 'Rosy' [3]. No plant patent granted with 'Rosy' as the primary subject of protection has been located.
The species was long marketed under the synonym Calathea roseopicta (Linden ex Lem.) Regel, now treated as a synonym under the accepted name [1]. The accepted combination remains Goeppertia roseopicta (Linden ex Lem.) Borchs. & S.Suárez as recorded by POWO [1].
Origin
No originator is documented. This cultivar predates any registration authority for Marantaceae.
The earliest datable evidence for the denomination 'Rosy' in any primary record is its appearance as a parental line in U.S. Plant Patent PP20061 [3]. That patent records that the hybridization employing 'Rosy' as the pollen parent was carried out in October 1998 in Bogor, Indonesia [3], establishing that a plant bearing this denomination was in cultivation and available for controlled crosses by that date. The patent does not name an originator for 'Rosy', does not describe the circumstances of its selection or naming, and does not state where or when it was first developed [3].
Intellectual Property
No plant patent has been granted with 'Rosy' as the primary subject of protection. U.S. Plant Patent PP20061, granted on 9 June 2009, covers the hybrid cultivar 'TWYCA0026' and does not extend protection to the parental line 'Rosy' [3]. No patent term, assignee, filing date, or grant date is therefore applicable to 'Rosy' as a protected variety. Related selections derived from Goeppertia roseopicta are covered by other U.S. plant patents, including PP24257 ('Princess Jessie'), PP16028 ('Indri') and PP21978 ('HGV09'), confirming that the species was subject to active breeding programmes from the late 1990s onward [3].
Documentation and Research Gaps
The primary authoritative sources for this cultivar are limited in scope. Plants of the World Online provides the accepted taxonomic name and species-level data for Goeppertia roseopicta [1]. Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince published the combination at page 634 of their 2012 molecular phylogenetic revision in Systematic Botany volume 37, number 3, establishing the generic limits on which current taxonomy rests [2]. U.S. Plant Patent PP20061 is the only primary record in which the denomination 'Rosy' appears, and its relevance is indirect: 'Rosy' is mentioned as a parental plant, not as the subject of the grant [3].
No authoritative botanical garden publication, university extension document, or peer-reviewed source specifically describing the distinguishing traits or horticultural history of the cultivar 'Rosy' has been located. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae, so no formal registration process exists under which an independent description of 'Rosy' could have been deposited or validated [2]. Digital Towns is an applicant aggregator and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operating under any appointment from the International Society for Horticultural Science or any International Cultivar Registration Authority.