Strawberry plant named ‘Driscoll Cambria’

Abstract

This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Driscoll Cambria’. The variety is similar to the varieties ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’. The variety is distinguished from ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’, in particular, by its absence of bracts on leaves, weak glossiness of the leaves, globose growth habit, density of plants, very sparse stipule pubescence, upward petiole pose of hairs, predominantly cordate fruit shape, vary narrow band without achenes on fruit, and the fine texture of the fruit when tasted.

Description

Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: The variety is botanically identified as Fragaria×ananassa.

1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants ‘61C117’ (unpatented Driscoll variety) and ‘126B46’ (unpatented Driscoll variety) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered in a controlled breeding plot in, Ventura County, Calif. in March 1998. The original seedling was asexually propagated by stolons in a nursery in Shasta County, Calif. Propagules were transplanted to a controlled breeding plot in Ventura, County, Calif. where it was identified and selected for further evaluation. ‘Driscoll Cambria’ was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing at various locations in Monterey county, Calif. for three 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 ‘Driscoll Cambria’. The variety is botanically known as Fragaria×ananassa. The new variety is distinguished from other varieties by a number of characteristics as set forth in Tables 1 and 2.

3. COMPARISON TO SIMILAR VARIETIES

The varieties which we believe to be similar to ‘Driscoll Cambria’ from those known to use are ‘Ana Maria’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. PP11,035, issued Aug. 17, 1999) and ‘San Juan’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. PP12,899, issued Sep. 3, 2002). There are several characteristics of the new variety that are different from, or not possessed by ‘Ana Maria’, and ‘San Juan’. The new variety has a diameter of inner calyx relative to outer on secondary flowers that is larger, sparse stipule and petiole pubescence, many stolons, the fruiting bodies have very narrow bands without achenes, a fine texture when tasted, and flowers in late-February.

‘Driscoll Cambria’ differs from its parent ‘61C117’ (unpatented Driscoll variety) in several characteristics, including, but not limited to, being adapted to Northern California climate, where ‘61C117’ is adapted to a Southern California climate. ‘Driscoll Cambria’ differs from its parent ‘126B46’ (unpatented Driscoll variety) in several characteristics, including, but not limited to, having superior fruit shipability than ‘126B46’.

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. The plants of ‘Driscoll Cambria’ characterized in the botanical description and depicted in the figures were grown outdoors in an annual production system. Measurements were taken during the late summer in the second half of the production season.

FIG. 1 shows leaves of the plant with three leaflets.

FIG. 2 shows the upper side and under side of the flowers.

FIG. 3 shows a close-up of the strawberry.

FIG. 4 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 Monterey county, Calif., U.S.A. Observations of ‘Driscoll Cambria’, ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’ were taken in side by side comparison in 2002. 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. Colors 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, 3 and 4. In the tables, the flowers described are secondary flowers except where indicated. The fruit described in the secondary fruit on one year old plants. Fruit and flower measurements are an average of both primary and secondary fruit and flowers. In particular, the reproductive structures of ‘Driscoll Cambria’ are fully self-fertile and typical of the species. Anther color in yellow, 13A, pistil color is yellow, 13A, and receptacle color is 150G, yellow green.

Table 1 provides information on the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety ‘Driscoll Cambria’ compared with characteristics of ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’. Table 2 provides additional information of the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety ‘Driscoll Cambria’ compared with characteristics of the varieties ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’. Table 3 provides reactions of the new variety to stresses, pests, and diseases as compared to the varieties ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’. Table 4 provides isozyme characteristics of the new variety as compared to the varieties ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’.

TABLE 1
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL CAMBRIA’,
‘ANA MARIA’, AND ‘SAN JUAN’
	‘Driscoll Cambria’	‘Ana Maria’	‘San Juan’
Plant Characteristics
Height of Plant (cm)	28.3	33.6	30.1
Spread of Plant (cm)	41.7	51.8	47.1
Number of Crowns	4.2	4.3	3.8
Leaf Characteristics
Terminal Leaflet Length	8.2	9.8	8.3
(cm)
Terminal Leaflet Width	7.8	9.5	7.9
(cm)
Terminal Leaflet	1.05	1.03	1.05
Length/Width Ratio
#Teeth/Terminal Leaflet	18.8	21.3	24.6
Color of upper side	light green	medium	medium to
	147A	green	dark green
		147A	147A
Color of under side	light green	light green	light green
	147B	148B	147C
Petiole Length (cm)	19.7	20.7	19
Petiole Color	149A	145B	149A
Bract Frequency	0%	67%	25%
		typically	typically
		single	paired
Stipule Length (cm)	3.5	3.4	3.6
Stipule Width (cm)	1.14	1.07	1.11
Flower Characteristics
Petal Length (cm)	1.07	1.29	1.05
Petal Width (cm)	1.13	1.22	1.10
Petal Length/Width Ratio	0.95	1.05	0.95
Flower Diameter (cm)	2.00	2.15	2.15
Calyx Diameter (cm)	2.86	3.07	2.91
Fruiting Truss Length	35.0	36.9	34.0
(cm)
Petal Color (cm)	155D	155D	155C
Fruit Characteristics
Fruit Length (cm)	4.19	3.99	4.33
Fruit Width (cm)	3.41	3.74	3.85
Fruit Length/Width	1.23	1.07	1.13
Radio
Average Berry Weight	23.3	22.5	28.4
(g)
Extenal Color	red	red	dark red
	46A	46A	53A
Internal Color	orange red	orange red	red
	41A	44B	44A
Average % brix	11.0	8.34	8.97
Brix/Acid Ratio	15.35	13.48	15.07
Achene Coloration	dark red to	dark red to	dark red to
	yellow	yellow	yellow
	53A to 16A	46B to 16A	46B to
			16A
Yield (g/plant)	1,366	1,504	1,225

TABLE 2
QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL CAMBRIA’,
‘SAN JUAN’ AND ‘ANA MARIA’
	‘Driscoll
	Cambria’	‘Ana Maria’	‘San Juan’
Plant
Habit	globose	globose to	globose to
		upright	flat globose
Density	dense	medium to	medium
		open
Vigor	strong	strong	medium
Leaf
Shape in cross section	concave	slightly	flat to
		concave to flat	slightly convex
Interveinal blistering	strong	medium to	medium to
		strong	strong
Glossiness	weak	medium	weak to
			medium weak
Number of leaflets	three only	three only	sometimes
			more than 3
			leaflets
			(approx. 17%
			of leaves)
Terminal teaflet	flat	flat	revolute to flat
margin profile
Terminal leaflet	rounded	rounded to	obtuse to
shape of base		oblique	rounded
Terminal leaflet	rounded	obtuse	rounded
shape of teeth
Stipule pubescence	very sparse	sparse	medium dense
Petiole pubescence	very sparse	sparse	medium
Petiole pose of hairs	upwards	outward	outward to
			downward
Stolon
Amount	many	medium to	medium to
		many	many
Anthocyanin coloration	medium	medium	strong
Thickness	thick	thin to medium	medium
Pubescence	medium	sparse to	medium
		medium
Inflorescence
Position relative	level to	level to	beneath to
to foliage	above	above	level with
Diameter of calyx	same size on	smaller to	larger
relative to corolla	secondary	same size
on secondary flowers	flowers,
	larger on
	primary
	flowers
Diameter of inner	larger	smaller to	same size
calyx relative to		same size
outer on secondary
flowers
Spacing of Petals	overlapping	free to touching	overlapping
Fruiting Truss
Attitude at first picking	prostate	semi-erect	prostate
Fruit
Predominant shape	cordate	conical	conical to
			almost
			cylindrical
Difference in	slight	none to very	moderate
shapes between primary		slight
and secondary fruits
Band without achenes	very narrow	narrow to	narrow
		medium
Unevenness of surface	very weak	weak	mean
Evenness of color uneven	even	even	even
Glossiness	strong	strong	very strong
Insertion of achenes	level with	level with	level with
	surface	surface	surface
Insertion of calyx	level	level with to	level
		set above
Pose of the	spreading to	spreading	spreading to
calyx segments	reflexed		reflexed
Size of calyx in	same size to	same size to	same size
relation to fruit	larger	larger
on secondary fruit
Adherence of calyx	weak to	weak to	strong
	medium	medium
Firmness of flesh	firm	soft to	firm
		medium
Evenness of flesh color	slightly	slightly	slightly
	uneven	uneven	uneven to
			even
Distribution of	marginal and	marginal and	marginal and
flesh color	central	central	central
Hollow center size	small	small	medium
Sweetness	strong	medium to	medium to
		strong	strong
Texture when tasted	fine	fine to	medium
		medium
Acidity	medium	medium	medium
Time of flowering	late-February	early-March	early-March
Harvest Interval in 2002	early-April	mid-April thru	mid-April thru
	thru early-	early-	early-
	November	November	November
Type of Bearing	partially	partially	partially
	everbearing	everbearing	everbearing

5.3 STRESS PEST AND DISEASE RESISTANCE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY

TABLE 3
REACTIONS TO STRESS, PESTS, AND DISEASES FOR
‘DRISCOLL CAMBRIA’, ‘SAN JUAN’ AND ‘ANA MARIA’
	‘Driscoll
	Cambria’	‘Ana Maria’	‘San Juan’
Reaction to Stress
high pH	moderately resistant	moderately	moderately
		resistant	resistant
high soil salt levels	moderately resistant	moderately	moderately
		resistant	resistant
Reaction to Pests
Tetranychus urticae	moderately	susceptible	moderately
	susceptible		susceptible
Lygus hesperus	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Reaction To Diseases
Botrytis fruit rot	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Powdery mildew	susceptible	moderately	susceptible
		susceptible
Verticillium wilt	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Strawberry Mottic	moderately	moderately	moderately
Virus	resistant	resistant	resistant
Xanthomonas	moderately	moderately	moderately
fragariae	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible

5.4 ISOZYME ANALYSIS

In addition to the morphological description above, the new cultivar ‘Driscoll Cambria’ 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 ‘Driscoll Cambria’, ‘Ana Maria’ and ‘San Juan’ were analyzed by electrophoresis for isozyme patterns of the enzymes phospoglucoisomerase (PGI), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and phosphoglucomutase (PGM), See J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 106:684-687. Isozyme characterization 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 4
ISOZYME ANALYSIS FOR ‘DRISCOLL CAMBRIA’,
‘ANA MARIA’ AND ‘SAN JUAN’
	Locus	‘Driscoll Cambria’	‘Ana Maria’	‘San Juan’
	PGI	A1	A1	A2
	LAP	B3	B3	B3
	PGM	C1	C4	C4

Claims

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