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US Plant Patent PP16575

EXCEL

Pecan tree ‘EXCEL’ variety

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Patent expired May 3, 2024. This plant is in the public domain — anyone may propagate and sell it.

Twenty years from the filing date would end on March 23, 2024. This patent earned 41 days of term adjustment for delay at the Patent Office, which is why it runs longer.

Figure 1 of US plant patent PP16575, the photograph of EXCEL printed in the patent.
Figure 1 from US Plant Patent PP16575, reproduced as printed. Photographs in a plant patent are taken by the applicant. Reproduction of the patent document is permitted; the image is shown whole and uncropped for that reason.

The record

Patent number
PP16575
Filed
March 23, 2004
Granted
May 30, 2006
Expires
May 3, 2024
Assignee
CLOUGH ANDY
Inventor
CLOUGH ANDY

Abstract

The new variety “EXCEL” pecan tree is an early bearing tree with fruit maturing and ready for harvest about the 1 st week in October. The new “EXCEL” tree actually blooms out later than the popular “Stuart” variety yet this new variety actually produces mature nuts that ripen earlier. The tree displays a semi-dwarf type growth with small twiglets, yet the nut has the general size and shape of the “Desirable” pecan variety. The fruit has a thick shell and an excellent quality that yields about 51%. The final bloom is red and the catkins are long and thin. The tree has also shown to be disease resistant as well as insect resistant for the foliage. The foliage is somewhat sparse, which allows for better sunlight penetration and air circulation. On the worst of conditions, the “EXCEL” has shown no scab on the nuts. The tree is precocious (early bearing) as well as prolyfic (heavy bearing).

Show the legal claimThe single numbered claim as granted — the legal text that defines what this patent covers.

1. A new and distinct variety of pecan tree substantially as shown and described herein, the new variety having a sturdy upright sparse tube showing small leaves and twig bits having a semi-dwarf type growth, the new variety being disease and insect resistant with excellent hardiness exhibiting a later bloom that the Stuart variety and an earlier maturing fruit, maturing about 14 days earlier than the Stuart variety, the fruit being of excellent kernel quality with bright meat and a heavy oil content.

Read the full patent: US Plant Patent PP16575 in full — the complete specification, every figure, and the file history.