Strawberry plant named ‘Driscoll Destin’

Abstract

This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Driscoll Destin.’ The variety is similar to the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo.’ The variety is distinguished from ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo,’ in particular, by its shorter plant height, larger flower diameter, an orange-red external fruit color, greater yield, weak leaf glossiness, very dense stipule pubescence, and a small hollow fruit center.

Description

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

1.1 Variety denomination: The strawberry variety denomination is ‘Driscoll Destin’.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants ‘73D144’ (unpatented variety) and ‘88E94’ (unpatented variety) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered as a seedling in Monterey, Calif. in 2000. The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated by stolons in a Nursery in Shasta County, Calif. Propagules were transplanted to a controlled breeding plot in Monterey county, Calif., where the variety was identified and selected for further evaluation. ‘Driscoll Destin’ was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing in Hillsborough county, Fla. 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.

3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Driscoll Destin.’ 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 1-4.

4. COMPARISON TO SIMILAR VARIETIES

The varieties which we believe to be similar to ‘Driscoll Destin’ from those known to us are ‘Biscayne’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,186) and ‘Key Largo’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,649). There are several characteristics of the new variety that are different from, or not possessed by ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo’. The new variety has a shorter plant height, larger flower diameter, an orange-red external fruit color, greater yield, weak leaf glossiness, very dense stipule pubescence, and a small hollow fruit center.

‘Driscoll Destin’ is distinguished from its maternal parent ‘73D144’ by its larger average berry size and improved shipability. ‘Driscoll Destin’ is distinguished from its paternal parent ‘88E94’ by its larger average berry size, improved shipping ability, and partial everbearing in comparison to the full everbearing of ‘88E94’.

5. 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 the upper side of the leaves of the plant.

FIG. 2 shows the whole the plant.

FIG. 3 shows the under side and underside of the flowers.

FIG. 4 shows a close-up of the fruit.

FIG. 5 shows the fruit in longitudinal cross-section.

6. DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY

The following detailed description of the new variety is based upon observations taken of plants and fruit grown in Hillsborough county, Fla., U.S.A. This description is in accordance with UPOV terminology. Observations of ‘Driscoll Destin’, ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo’ were taken in side by side comparison in the 2003-2004 winter season. Plants for observation were harvested from McArthur, Calif., and held in refrigerated storage until planting in Hillsborough county, Fla. in October 2003. Plants were grown in raised beds of soil under conditions typical of commercial strawberry production in central Florida. Fruits were harvested twice weekly for yield determination from November 2003 to March 2004. Measurements of plant, flower, and fruit characteristics were made in January 2004, approximately four months after planting. 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.

6.1 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.

6.2 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 is the secondary fruit on five month 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 ‘Driscoll Destin’ compared with characteristics of ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo.’ Table 2 provides additional information of the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety ‘Driscoll Destin’ compared with characteristics of the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo.’ Table 3 provides reactions of the new variety to stresses, pests and diseases compared with reactions of the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo.’ Table 4 provides isozyme characteristics of the new variety as compared to that of the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo.’

TABLE 1
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL DESTIN’,
‘BISCAYNE,’ AND ‘KEY LARGO’
	‘Driscoll
	Destin’	‘Biscayne’	‘Key Largo’
Plant Characteristics
Height of Plant (cm)	8.1	10.0	11.6
Spread of Plant (cm)	32.4	31.3	32.1
Number of Crowns	3.4	3.2	4.2
Leaf Characteristics
Terminal Leaflet	8.2	7.6	8.4
Length (cm)
Terminal Leaflet	8.3	8.1	8.0
Width (cm)
Terminal Leaflet	0.99	0.93	1.06
Length/Width Ratio
# Teeth/Terminal	24.5	27.0	21.6
Leaflet
Color of upper side	135A	137A	137A
	medium to	light green	light green
	dark green
Color of under side	136C	139C	139C
	light gray	light gray	light gray
	green	green	green
Petiole Length (cm)	8.6	9.2	11.5
Petiole Color	145B	142D	142D
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Petiolule Length (mm)	7.0	5.5	6.3
Petiolule Diameter	2.1	2.2	1.9
(mm)
Petiolule Color	145C	142D	142D
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Bract Frequency	8%	83%	0%
	typically	typically
	single	paired
Stipule Length (cm)	3.8	3.7	3.4
Stipule Width (cm)	1.6	2.0	1.5
Stolon Characteristics
Anthocyanin color	60A	59B
	red	red
Diameter at bract	3.59	3.24	3.30
(mm)
Avg. # of Daughter	51	72	52
plants (2003 Nursery)
Flower Characteristics
Petal Length (cm)	1.5	1.36	1.65
Petal Width (cm)	1.3	1.49	1.46
Petal Length/Width	1.09	0.91	1.13
Ratio
Flower Diameter (cm)	3.0	2.76	2.72
Calyx Diameter (cm)	4.0	3.86	5.11
Sepal Length (mm)	15.8	15.3	21.5
Sepal Width (cm)	6.6	7.22	9.15
Petal Color	155C white	155C white	155C white
Receptical Color	150A	150A	150A
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Anther Color	13A yellow	9A yellow	9A yellow
Fruiting Truss Length	8.8	8.7	13.6
(cm)
Fruit Characteristics
Fruit Length (cm)	5.6	4.8	4.8
Fruit Width (cm)	4.3	4.0	3.5
Fruit Length/Width	1.31	1.20	1.37
Ratio
Average Berry Weight	28.9	26.5	23.2
(g)
External Color	45B	46B	46B
	orange red	red	red
Internal Color	179C	44A	44B
	orange red	medium red	medium red
Achene Coloration	184B to 150A	180B to 150C	182B to 150A
	greyed red to	greyed red to	greyed red to
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Achenes per berry	194	109	104
Achene weight (g)	0.000077	0.00046	0.00058
2003-2004 Fruit Yield	285	243	251
(g/plant)

TABLE 2
QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL DESTIN’,
‘BISCAYNE,’ AND ‘KEY LARGO’
	‘Driscoll
	Destin’	‘Biscayne’	‘Key Largo’
Plant
Habit	flat	flat globose	globose
Canopy Density	dense	medium	medium
Vigor	strong	strong	medium
Leaf
Shape in cross section	concave	concave	slightly concave
Interveinal blistering	very strong	weak	weak
Glossiness	weak	medium	medium
Number of leaflets	three only	three only	three only
Terminal leaflet	revolute to flat	revolute	revolute
margin profile
Terminal leaflet shape	obtuse	rounded	slightly oblique
of base
Terminal leaflet shape	acute to obtuse	rounded	rounded
of teeth
Stipule pubescence	very dense	medium	medium
Petiole pubescence	medium	medium	medium
Petiole pose of hairs	outwards	outwards	upwards
Stolon
Anthocyanin	medium	strong
coloration
Thickness	thick	medium
Pubescence	medium	medium
Inflorescence
Position relative to	beneath	level	level to above
foliage
Diameter of calyx	same size	larger	much larger
relative to corolla on
secondary flowers
Diameter of inner	same size to	same size	smaller
calyx relative to outer	larger
on secondary flowers
Spacing of petals	overlapping	overlapping	overlapping
Fruiting Truss
Attitude at first	prostrate	prostrate	semi-erect
picking
Fruit
Predominant shape	conical to	conical	conical
	almost
	cylindrical
Difference in shapes	moderate	slight	slight
between primary and
secondary fruits
Band without achenes	medium	narrow	narrow
Unevenness of surface	weak	weak	weak
Evenness of color	uneven	even	even

6.4 ISOZYME ANALYSIS

In addition to the morphological description above, the new cultivar ‘Driscoll Destin’ has been analyzed to obtain an indication of its genetic makeup to provide further means for identifying the new variety and distinguishing it from other somewhat similar and/or related strawberry varieties. Specifically, leaf samples of ‘Driscoll Destin’, ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Key Largo’ 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 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 DESTIN’,
‘BISCAYNE,’ AND ‘KEY LARGO’
		‘Driscoll
	Locus	Destin’	‘Biscayne’	‘Key Largo’
	PGI	A2	A1	A1
	LAP	B3	B3	B3
	PGM	C2	C4	C4

Claims

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