The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Ox Eye Sunflower, a herbaceous perennial that is grown for use as an ornamental landscape and container plant. The new invention is known botanically as Heliopsis helianthoides and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Tuscan Sun’. Heliopsis is in the family Asteraceae under which the commonly referred to “flower” is actually the inflorescence, and made up of smaller ray florets and disc florets. The ray florets are what look like “petals”. For ease of clarification the common term “flower” is used herein to describe the inflorescence.
‘Tuscan Sun’ is a chance seedling that was discovered by the inventors in 1997 amongst many open-pollinated seedlings of Heliopsis helianthoides (unpatented) in a cultivated garden in Rhinelander, Wis. Adjacent to the cultivated garden was a planting of stock plants of Heliopsis helianthoides ‘Loraine Sunshine’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,690). The inventors consider that there is a high probability that ‘Loraine Sunshine’ is a parent of ‘Tuscan Sun’. ‘Tuscan Sun’ differs from ‘Loraine Sunshine’ in that it has solid green leaves and a very compact habit.
The combined characteristics of ‘Tuscan Sun’ are: compact plant habit, sturdy stems, green leaves and stems, and golden-yellow ray flowers. These characteristics make this new cultivar unique and unlike any other known cultivars of Heliopsis helianthoides known to the inventors. Although there are cultivars that exist with variation in plant height, plant form, inflorescence, leaf and stem color, and ray floret number, no cultivars known to the inventors have as compact of a plant habit as ‘Tuscan Sun’.
The first asexual reproduction of ‘Tuscan Sun’ was carried out by the inventors in 1999 in Rhinelander, Wis. The method used for asexual propagation was vegetative cuttings. Since that time the inventors have determined that distinguishing characteristics of ‘Tuscan Sun’ are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.