Strawberry plant named `Ventura`

Abstract

This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named `Ventura`. The variety is similar to the varieties `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`. The variety is distinguished from `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`, in particular, by its globose to flat globose habit, medium density, weak to medium vigor, medium leaf glossiness, calyx diameter that is smaller relative to the corolla, semi-erect attitude at first picking, conical to cordate fruit shape, slight differences in shape between the primary and secondary fruit, narrow band without achenes, insertion of the calyx that is in a basin to level, weak to medium adherence of the calyx, and fruit with firm flesh and a small hollow center.

Description

1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants `Mr. P` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,840) and `R1` (unpatented Driscoll variety) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered as a seedling in a controlled breeding plot at the Driscoll Research Ranch, Ventura County, Calif. in October 1992. The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated by stolons at the Driscoll Nursery, McArthur, Shasta County, Calif. Propagules were transplanted to a controlled breeding plot in Monterey County, Calif., where it was identified and selected for further evaluation. `Ventura` was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing at various locations in Ventura County, Calif. for seven years. This propagation and testing has demonstrated that the combination of traits disclosed herein which characterize the new variety are fixed and retained true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction.

2. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named `Ventura`. The variety is botanically identified as Fragaria×ananassa. The new variety is distinguished from other varieties by a number of characteristics as set forth in Tables 1-6.

3. COMPARISON TO SIMILAR VARIETIES

The varieties which we believe to be similar to `Ventura` from those known to us are `E26` (unpatented Driscoll variety), `Montalvo` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,522) and `Baeza` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,548). There are several characteristics of the new variety that are different from, or not possessed by `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`. The new variety has a globose to flat globose habit, medium density, weak to medium vigor, medium leaf glossiness, a calyx diameter that is smaller relative to the corolla, a semi-erect attitude at first picking, conical to cordate fruit shape, slight differences in shape between the primary and secondary fruit, a narrow band without achenes, insertion of the calyx that is in a basin to level, weak to medium adherence of the calyx, and fruit with firm flesh and a small hollow center.

Plants of `Mr. P` were more vigorous than those of `Ventura`. Fruit of `Mr. P` had poorer shelf-life than those of `Ventura` by being more orange in color and possessing raised achenes. Plants of R1 were partially everbearing while those of `Ventura` are everbearing.

4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying photographs show typical specimens of the new variety, including fruit, foliage and flowers, in color as nearly true as it is reasonably possible to make in color illustrations of these characteristics.

FIG. 1 shows a close-up photo of the whole plant.

FIG. 2 shows the whole plant.

FIG. 3 shows the leaves of the plant.

FIG. 4 shows the leaves of the plant.

FIG. 5 shows the upper side and under side of the flowers.

FIG. 6 shows a close-up of the strawberry.

FIG. 7 shows the strawberry in longitudinal cross-section.

5. DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY

The following detailed description of the new variety is based upon observations taken of plants and fruit grown in Ventura County, Calif., U.S.A. Observations of `Ventura`, `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza` were taken in side by side comparison in 1999. This description is in accordance with UPOV terminology. Color designations, color descriptions, and other phenotypical descriptions may deviate from the stated values and descriptions depending upon variation in environmental, seasonal, climatic and cultural conditions. Color are described and the most similar color designations are provided from The Royal Horticultural Society (R.H.S.) Colour Chart.

5.1 PROPAGATION

The new variety is principally propagated by way of stolons. Although propagation by stolons is presently preferred, other known methods of propagating strawberry plants may be employed.

5.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW VARIETY

Information on the new variety is presented in Tables 1, 2 and 3. In the tables, the flowers described are secondary flowers except where indicated. The petal color of `Ventura` is white, 155C in The R.H.S. Colour Chart. The fruit described is the secondary fruit on one year old plants. Fruit and flower measurements are an average of both primary and secondary fruit and flowers.

Table 1 provides information on the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety `Ventura` compared with characteristics of `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`. Table 2 provides additional information of the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety `Ventura` compared with characteristics of the varieties `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`. Table 3 provides reactions of the new variety to stresses as compared to the varieties `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`. Tables 4 and 5 provide information of the new variety's reaction to pests and diseases, respectively, compared to the varieties `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`. Table 6 provides isozyme characteristics of the new variety as compared to the varieties `E26`, `Montalvo`, and `Baeza`.

The leaf margin is crenate. Leaf texture is slightly blistered. The shape of the leaf is rounded to broadly ovate. The mid-vein color on the terminal leaflet is yellow green (154C) and the venation pattern is pinate.

The average petiole diameter is 0.37 cm. The average length of the petiole on the terminal leaflet is 1.32 cm.

The petal shape is rounded to broadly ovate. The petal margin is entire. The petal texture is smooth. The shape of the petal apex and base are rounded. The average number of petals per flower is 5.6.

The color of the stipule is yellow-green (145A).

The average sepal length is 1.1 cm. The average sepal width is 0.46 cm. The sepal color is 138A.

The average number of achenes per berry is 286.

TABLE 1
DETAILED COMPARISON OF `VENTURA`, `E26`,
`MONTALVO` AND `BAEZA`
	Ventura	E26	Montalvo	Baeza
Plant Characteristics
Height of Plant (cm)	24.8	20.0	25.6	26.4
Spread of Plant (cm)	38.9	37.5	40.4	42.6
Number of Crowns	3.3	2.9	3.0	3.6
Leaf Characteristics
Terminal Leaflet Width	8.7	8.0	9.6	9.6
(cm)
Terminal Leaflet Length	8.3	8.0	9.5	9.5
(cm)
Terminal Leaflet	0.96	1.00	0.98	0.99
Length/Width Ratio
Number of Teeth/	24.6	21.2	20.6	32.2
Terminal Leaflet
Color of upper side of	Medium	Medium	Light to	Light to
leaf	green	green	medium	medium
	137B	137A	green	green
			147A	147A
Color of under side of	Light	Light	Light	Light
leaf	green	green	green	green
	138B	138C	138C	138B
Petiole Lenght (cm)	17.1	14.1	15.4	16.5
Petiole color	yellow	yellow	yellow	yellow
	green	green	green	green
	145B	145A	144C	144A
Bract Frequency	20%	40%	20%	70%
		Typically	Typically	Typically
		paired	paired	paired
Stipule Length (cm)	2.9	3.1	3.5	3.6
Stipule Width (cm)	1.1	1.3	1.2	1.3
Flower Characteristics
Petal Width (cm)	1.05	1.08	1.23	1.28
Petal Length (cm)	1.08	1.03	1.19	1.26
Petal Length/Width Ratio	1.03	0.95	0.97	0.98
Flower Diameter (cm)	2.76	2.70	3.08	3.15
Calyx Diameter (cm)	2.49	2.63	2.82	3.00
Fruit Characteristics
Fruit Width (cm)	3.9	3.8	4.0	3.6
Fruit Length (cm)	4.0	4.0	4.6	3.9
Fruit Length/Width Ratio	1.01	1.06	1.16	1.08
Average Berry Size (g)	26.3	23.2	27.6	21.8
Fruit Skin Color	Red	Orange	Orange	Red
	46A	red	Red	46A
		46B	45B
Fruit Flesh Color	White &	White	White	White &
	orange	and pale	and	orange
	red	rose	orange	red
	44A &	33B &	red	42B &
	155D	155D	43A &	155D
			155A
Achene Coloration	Yellow to	Yellow	Yellow	Yellow
	Red	to Red	to Red	to Red
	13B to	14A to	13A to	13A to
	45B	46A	26A	46A
Total Yield (g/plant)	433	503	357	445

TABLE 2
CHARACTERISTICS OF `VENTURE`, `E26`,
`MONTALVO`, AND `BAEZA`
	Ventura	E26	Montalvo	Baeza
Plant
Habit	globose to	flat	flat globose	flat globose
	flat globose
Density	medium	medium to	open to	open
		dense	medium
Vigor	weak to	weak	strong	medium
	medium
Leaf
Shape in	slightly	concave to	concave	concave
cross section	concave	slightly
		concave
Intervenial	strong	strong to	weak to	strong to
blistering		very strong	medium	very strong
Glossiness	medium	weak	weak	weak
Number of	3 only	3 only	3 only	3 only
leaflets
Terminal	revolute to	revolute to	flat	revolute to
leaflet	flat	flat		flat
margin
profile
Terminal	rounded	rounded	obtuse to	obtuse to
leaflet shape			rounded	rounded
of base
Terminal	obtuse	rounded	rounded	acute to
leaflet shape				obtuse
of teeth
Stipule	sparse	sparse	sparse	sparse
pubescence
Petiole	sparse	sparse	sparse	very sparse
pubescence				to sparse
Petiole pose	outwards	outwards	upwards to	outwards
of hairs			outwards
Stolon
Number	few to	medium to	--	--
	medium	many
Anthocyanin	medium	medium to	--	--
coloration		strong
Thickness	medium to	medium to	--	--
	thick	thick
Pubescence	dense	dense	--	--
Inflorescence
Position	level to	beneath	beneath to	level to
relative to	above		level	above
foliage
Diameter of	smaller	same size to	smaller to	same size to
calyx		larger	same size	larger
relative to
corolla
Diameter of	same size	same size	larger	same size
inner calyx
relative to
outer
Spacing of	touching to	overlapping	overlapping	overlapping
petals	overlapping
Fruiting Truss
Attitude at	semi-erect	prostrate	prostrate	prostrate
first picking
Length (cm)	29.8	22.1	26.4	26.9
Fruit
Predominant	conical to	conical	conical to	conical
shape	cordate		almost
			cylindrical
Difference in	slight	very slight	marked	very slight
shapes		to slight		to slight
between
primary and
secondary
fruits
Band without	narrow	narrow to	medium	very narrow
achenes		medium		to narrow
Unevenness of	weak to	weak	weak to	weak to
surface	medium		medium on	medium
			secondary
			fruit;
			strong on
			primary
			fruit
Evenness of	uneven	slightly	slightly	slightly
color		uneven	uneven	uneven to
				even
Glossiness	strong	strong	medium to	strong
			strong
Insertion of	below	level with	below	level to
achenes	surface	surface	surface	below
				surface
Insertion of	in a basin	set above	set above	level
calyx	to level	the fruit	the fruit
Pose of the	reflexed	reflexed	reflexed	spreading to
calyx				reflexed
segments
Size of calyx	smaller	smaller	smaller to	same size to
in relation			same size	larger
to fruit
Adherence of	weak to	strong	strong	strong
calyx	medium
Firmness of	firm	soft to	medium	medium to
flesh		medium		firm
Evenness of	slightly	uneven	slightly	uneven
flesh color	uneven		uneven
Distribution	marginal and	only	marginal and	marginal and
of flesh	central	marginal	central	central
color
Hollow center	small	medium	small to	large
size			medium
Sweetness	medium to	medium	medium to	medium
	strong		strong
Texture when	fine	medium	fine	medium
tasted
Acidity	weak to	weak to	weak to	medium
	medium	medium	medium
Time of	mid to late	mid to late	mid to late	mid to late
Flowering	August	August	August	August
Harvest	Oct. 2-	Oct. 2-	Oct. 2-	Oct. 2-
Interval	Dec. 18	Dec. 18	Dec. 18	Dec. 18
Type of	fully	fully	fully	fully
Bearing	everbearing	everbearing	everbearing	everbearing

5.3 REACTION TO STRESS TABLE 3

TABLE 3
Reaction
to Stress	Ventura	E26	Montalvo	Baeza
high pH	Moderately	Moderately	Moderately	Moderately
	Resistant	Resistant	Resistant	Resistant
high soil salt	Moderately	Moderately	Moderately	Moderately
levels	Resistant	Resistant	Resistant	Resistant

5.4 PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY

TABLE 4
Reaction
to Pests	Venutra	E26	Montalvo	Baeza
Tetranychus	moderately	moderately	moderately	moderately
urticae	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Aphis spp.	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Lygus hesperus	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible

TABLE 4
Reaction
to Pests	Venutra	E26	Montalvo	Baeza
Tetranychus	moderately	moderately	moderately	moderately
urticae	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Aphis spp.	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Lygus hesperus	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible

5.5 ISOZYME ANALYSIS

In addition to the morphological description above, the new cultivar `Ventura` has been analyzed to obtain an indication of its genetic makeup to provide further means for identifying the new variety and distinguishing it from some other somewhat similar and/or related strawberry varieties. Specifically, leaf samples of `Ventura`, `E26`, `Montalvo` and `Baeza` were analyzed by electrophoresis for isozyme patterns of the enzymes phosphoglucoisomerase (PGI), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and phosphoglucomutase (PGM). See J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 106:684-687. Isozyme chaaracterization of the three varieties is presented in Table 4, with the letters representing the banding patterns for each enzyme as designated in the above-identified article.

TABLE 6
ISOZYME ANALYSIS FOR `VENTURA`
`E26`, `MONTALVO`, AND `BAEZA`
	Locus	Ventura	E26	Montalvo	Baeza
	PGI	A2	A2	A4	A1
	LAP	B3	B3	B3	B3
	PGM	C4	C2	C4	C3

Claims

1. A new and distinct variety of strawberry plant, substantially as shown and described.