US Plant Patent PP6993
Red maple named Wandell
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Patent expired February 19, 2008. This plant is in the public domain — anyone may propagate and sell it.
No term adjustment or disclaimer is recorded against this patent, so this is the full statutory term — twenty years from the filing date.
The record
- Patent number
- PP6993
- Filed
- February 19, 1988
- Granted
- August 22, 1989
- Expires
- February 19, 2008
No cultivar name of record
This patent does not name the plant. Through the 1980s and early 1990s that was still common: naming every new cultivar only became standard practice as plants began to be marketed under brand names. The grant identifies this one by its number and by a written description instead.
Nothing here is missing from our records: the patent itself states no name. Where one exists we show it, and we do not invent one.
Abstract
A new variety of Acer rubrum of attractive, pyramidal growth habit, medium size, and early, uniform brilliant scarlet fall coloration. The tree has a full, dense and heavily leaved crown.
Show the legal claimThe single numbered claim as granted — the legal text that defines what this patent covers.
I claim: 1. A new and distinct variety Acer rubrum named `Wandell` as described and illustrated herein that differs from all other varieties by the unique combination of (1) brilliant scarlet fall color; (2) leaves all turning color at the same time in the fall; (3) leaves turning color earlier in the fall than other red maples, not affected by early fall frosts; (4) leaves that are smaller than the species; (5) abundant leaf population within the canopy; (6) petioles that are stout, holding the leaves flat and upright so that the visual impact of fall color is enhanced, even in windy conditions; (7) branches and twigs ascending at first, then arching downward, forming a graceful appearance and fully displaying the leaves; (8) a pyramidal growth habit; (9) later leaf emergence in the spring than other red maples, not affected by late spring frosts; and (10) the limbs of young trees are able to grow into and fill in gaps in the crown so that more branches and higher leaf populations are accommodated.
Read the full patent: US Plant Patent PP6993 in full — the complete specification, every figure, and the file history.