The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant, botanically known as Dahlia sp. of the Compositae (Asteraceae) family, hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘DASEKSTEN’.
The new Dahlia cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Rune Harboe Nielsen, in Fyn, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program is to develop a new Dahlia variety with an upright, strong and healthy growth habit, suitable for large scale container production; fully double flowers creating globular-shaped flower head (composite flower heads with many ray florets).
The new Dahlia cultivar originated from a cross made in a controlled breeding program by the inventor in 2003 in Fyn, Odense, Denmark. The female or seed parent is the Dahlia Cav. designated ‘99.A188 Hawaii’ (unpatented). The male or pollen parent is the Dahlia hortensis Guillaumin designated ‘01.130B’ (unpatented). The new Dahlia ‘DASEKSTEN’ was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in June of 2003 in a controlled environment in Fyn, Denmark.
Asexual reproduction of the new Dahlia cultivar by vegetative cuttings was first performed in February of 2004 in Fyn, Denmark, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new cultivar reproduces true to type.