[0001]Botanical denomination: Echinacea hybrid.

[0002]Cultivar designation: ‘Raspberry Ripple’.

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES UNDER 37 CFR 1.77(B)(6)

[0003]The first offers for sale of the claimed plant were to North Coast Perennials and North Branch Nursery by Walters Gardens, Inc. on Oct. 15, 2024. The first disclosure of the new plant was a photograph and brief description in the “Walters Gardens 2025-2026 Catalog” on Jun. 3, 2025. No plants of Echinacea ‘Raspberry Ripple’ have been sold in this country or anywhere in the world, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made, more than one year prior to the filing date of this application, and such sale or disclosure within one year was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor and therefore a 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) exception.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004]The present invention relates to the new and distinct cultivar of Coneflower from the genus Echinacea and given the cultivar name ‘Raspberry Ripple’. The new plant was the result of a cross by the inventor of an unnamed proprietary hybrid known as 19-3-10 (not patented) as the female parent and an unnamed proprietary hybrid known as 19-3-1 (not patented) as the male in the summer of 2021, at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Michigan. The single seedling selected was evaluated initially in trials in the summer of 2022 at the same nursery and assigned the breeder code of 21-7-6.

[0005]Echinacea ‘Raspberry Ripple’ has been asexually propagated at the same nursery by crown division and also using careful shoot tip tissue culture procedures and found to reproduce plants that exhibit all the characteristics identical to the original plant in successive generations.

[0006]Echinacea ‘Raspberry Ripple’ is distinct from all other Coneflowers known to the inventor. The nearest comparison cultivars are: ‘Butterfly Kisses’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,458, ‘Raspberry Beret’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 35,404, ‘Raspberry Truffle’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,612, ‘Razzmatazz’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,894, and ‘Secret Affair’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,354, ‘Strawberry Mousse’ (not patented), and ‘Watermelon Sugar’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 35,809.

[0007]The female parent plant, 19-3-10, has salmon-pink ray florets. The male parent plant, 19-3-1, reddish-pink ray florets and less basal branching.

[0008]‘Butterfly Kisses’ has a shorter and narrower habit, smaller inflorescences with brighter purplish-pink ray florets that droop more. ‘Raspberry Beret’ has a smaller habit and smaller inflorescences with deeper purplish-red ray florets. ‘Raspberry Truffle’ has a smaller habit, smaller inflorescences with deep reddish disk florets and smaller ray florets that are brighter purplish-red. ‘Razzmatazz’ has a much larger upright habit with less basal branching, smaller inflorescences with ray florets that are smaller and more purplish, and disk florets that are not as bright reddish. ‘Secret Affair’ has slightly smaller inflorescences with ray florets that are shorter and more purplish, and disk florets that are darker reddish. ‘Watermelon Sugar’ has a slightly larger habit with smaller inflorescences having ray florets that are shorter and more purplish and disk florets that are more purplish-red.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]The photographs of ‘Raspberry Ripple’ demonstrate the overall appearance of the plant including the unique traits. The drawings of the new plant are of a two-year-old plant grown in a full-sun trial garden in Zeeland, Michigan. The colors are as accurate as reasonably possible with color reproductions. Some slight variations of color may occur as a result of lighting quality, intensity, wavelength, direction, or reflection.

[0016]FIG. 1 shows the habit of the new plant in the flower.

[0017]FIG. 2 shows a close-up from above of some inflorescences with flat ray florets and large center pompon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT