Botanical designation:Diervillaxsplendens.

Cultivar denomination: ‘SMNDSS’.

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY INVENTOR/APPLICANT & ASSIGNEE

The Inventor/Applicant and Assignee assert that no publications nor advertisements relating to sales, offers for sale or public distribution occurred more than one year prior to the effective filing date of this application. Any information about the claimed plant would have been obtained from a direct or indirect disclosure from the Inventor/Applicant and/or the Assignee. Inventor/Applicant and Assignee claim a prior art exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1) for disclosure and/or sales prior to the filing date but less than one year prior to the effective filing date.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar ofDiervillaplant, botanically known asDiervillaxsplendens, commonly referred to as Bush Honeysuckle and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘SMNDSS’.

The newDiervillais a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new freely branchingDiervillaplants with attractive leaf coloration.

The newDiervillaplant originated from an open-pollination during the summer of 2018 in Grand Haven, Mich. ofDiervillaxsplendens‘El Madrigal’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,060, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection ofDiervillaxsplendensas the male, or pollen, parent. The newDiervillaplant was discovered and selected by the Inventor in 2019 as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich.

Asexual reproduction of the newDiervillaplant by softwood stem cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Grand Haven, Mich. since 2019 has shown that the unique features of this newDiervillaplant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of the newDiervillahave not been observed under all possible combinations of environmental conditions and cultural practices. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of ‘SMNDSS’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘SMNDSS’ as a new and distinctDiervillaplant:1. Upright to outwardly spreading and mounding plant habit.2. Vigorous growth habit and rapid growth rate.3. Freely branching habit; dense and bushy appearance.4. Leaves are bright green in color tinged with greyed orange in the spring and becoming bright yellowish green tinged with reddish orange during the summer and autumn.5. Numerous bright greenish yellow-colored flowers.6. Good garden performance.

Plants of the newDiervillacan be compared to plants of the female parent, ‘El Madrigal’. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the newDiervilladiffer primarily from plants of ‘El Madrigal’ in leaf color as leaves of the newDiervillaare bright green in color tinged with greyed orange in the spring and becoming bright yellowish green tinged with reddish orange during the summer and autumn whereas leaves of plants of ‘El Madrigal’ are burgundy to greenish brown in color.

Plants of the newDiervillacan also be compared to plants ofDiervillaxsplendens‘G2X88544’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,548. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the newDiervilladiffer primarily from plants of ‘G2X88544’ in leaf color as leaves of the newDiervillaare bright green in color tinged with greyed orange in the spring and becoming bright yellowish green tinged with reddish orange during the summer and autumn whereas leaves of plants of ‘G2X88544’ are orange in color and becoming golden orange in color in the autumn.

