Full Name: Hoya carnosa ‘Rubra’
Described in extensive detail in USPP3105P on April 11, 1972 by Attorney Roger L.Martin for Inventor/
Originator Barnell L.Cobia of Winter Garden, Florida, U.S.A.
Name Status: This name is Latin post 1959, but it is Accepted automatically (ICNCP 9th Edition, 27.5) due to the 1972 patent where it is also Established.
Synonyms: None
Trade designations: KRIMSON PRINCESS was coined by Cobia for the selling of this cultivar. It was Trademarked from 1969-2002. It was not renewed at its last 10 year expiration. B.L.Cobia died in 2003 and no one else from B.L.Cobia,Inc renewed the mark.
Over the decades, there was a misunderstanding due to its common usage in place of the cultivar name and it was cited and used as an invalid synonym instead, and became a common name for all carnosa cultivars with inside margin variegation. This caused likely irreversible damage in the loss of both the correct cultivar name, and of other, once commonly grown beloved inner-variegated cultivars to the market. It has become harder to find Hoya carnosa ‘Picta’ and Hoya carnosa ‘Exotica’, for example. They all became mixed up, despite their unique characteristics. Each of these cultivars were regularly labeled only with the expired trademark belonging to Cobia for ‘Rubra’, written as though it were a cultivar name itself: as Hoya carnosa ‘Krimson Princess’.
Trade designations are never cultivar names and are never synonyms for them. They are a device for marketing the cultivar alongside its accepted or adopted name, and are not regulated under the ICNCP (Article 13-13.2). The code does, however, provide guidance regarding how to write cultivar names with trade designations in Article 17.3, as well as guidelines for when a synonym can become a trade designation in 13.2 Note 1 ..but not the other way around.
Known Provenance: Appeared as a sport on Hoya carnosa ‘Tricolor’ at Winter Garden (Plant Pat. USPP3105P). It is also registered in the Mutant Variety Database as having been induced by irradiation of rooted cuttings (…”with x-rays or gamma rays”). Cobia’s work in this field was widely purported, but never fully recorded in relation to Hoyas until this point. The source in the Mutant Variety Database and approval of this cultivar as a Mutant is the Mutation Breeding Newsletter No: 31 Page 25.
Description: For a full botanical description and comparison (per Cobia) against other variegated cultivars, please see the full patent linked here. This inner-variegated Hoya was distinguished from Hoya carnosa ‘Exotica’ and “other related” cultivars by its larger stems and wider, ovate leaf blade. It is also dominated by very long-lasting dark colors ” purple, purplish red, reddish brown, and/or pink hues prior to becoming glaucous”. The origin of the name is the deep and long-lasting color of the new growth.
Sources & Notes:
ICNCP, 9th Edition Brickell et al., Article 27.5 states that “Notwithstanding Art. 27.1 the name of a cultivar is established if it is accepted under an equivalent term in a register maintained by a statutory plant registration authority.” (Where 27.1 is the the way in which a name is normally established).
The US Patent Office is the statutory plant registration authority in this case, which enabled me to automatically Accept this already widely known name.
Sources:
B.L.Cobia, Inc. (1972). Hoya carnosa Rubra (U.S. Plant Patent No. 3,105). United Stated Patent Office. google.com/patent/USPP3105P
(1977, June). How new Hoya hybrids come to be. Plants Alive! p.71.
Andrews,L. (1977, June). 50 Interesting Hoyas. Plants Alive! p.72.
Townsend,P.(1968,Feb 8). Largest Hoya, Christmas Cactus Firm Located In Winter Garden,57.
van Raalte,D. 1980.. Nieuwe Hoya carnosa-rassen.Vakbl.Bloemisterij 35(5):115 & https://nucleus.iaea.org Mutant Variety Database Home & Database