Strawberry plant named ‘Driscoll Sausalito’

Abstract

This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Driscoll Sausalito’. The variety is similar to the varieties ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’. The variety is distinguished from ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan,’ in particular, by its sweetness, acidity, internal color, longer petal length, longer flower diameter, anythocyanin color and coloration and moderate resistance to powdery mildew.

Description

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

Variety denomination: The strawberry variety denomination is ‘Driscoll Sausalito’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants ‘San Juan’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,899) and 14C185 (Unpatented Driscoll Variety) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered in Monterey County, 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 Sausalito’ was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing in Monterey County, Calif. for five 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.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Driscoll Sausalito’. 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.

COMPARISON TO SIMILAR VARIETIES

The varieties which we believe to be similar to ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ from those known to us are ‘Driscoll Lanai’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,145) and ‘San Juan’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,899). There are several characteristics of the new variety that are different from, or not possessed by ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’. For example, the new variety has a different internal color, longer petal length, longer flower diameter, different anythocyanin color and coloration and is moderately resistant to powdery mildew. Additional characteristics of ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ include an orbicular petal shape, a rounded petal apex and an obtuse petal base. The typical and observed petal number of ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ is six and the petal margin is entire. The typical and observed sepal number of ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ is ten. ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ also has a laceolate sepal shape, an acute sepal apex and a serrate sepal margin. ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ also has a typical and observed broadly obviate leaflet shape and an obtuse leaflet apex. The average number of strawberries on the fruiting truss of ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ is one.

‘Driscoll Sausalito’ is distinguished from its parent, ‘San Juan’ as indicated in Tables 1-4. Plants of 14C185 were not available for side by side comparison. ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ differs from 14C185 by having brighter red, more uniformly colored berries and superior shelf-life.

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 whole the plant.

FIG. 2 shows the upper side of the leaves of the plant.

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

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

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

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY

The following detailed description of the new variety is based upon observations taken on plants harvested from a nursery in Shasta country, Calif. in October, 2004 and held in cold storage until planting in Monterey County, Calif. in November 2004. Plants were grown in raised beds of soil under conditions typical of commercial strawberry production in Monterey County, Calif. Observations of ‘Driscoll Sausalito’, ‘Driscoll Lanai’, and ‘San Juan’ were made in side by side comparison in July 2005. Fruits were harvested twice weekly from April, 2004 to November, 2004 for yield determination. 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.

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.

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 seven 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 Sausalito’ compared with characteristics of ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’. Table 2 provides additional information of the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ compared with characteristics of the varieties ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’. Table 3 provides reactions of the new variety to stresses, pests and diseases compared with reactions of the varieties ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’. Table 4 provides isozyme characteristics of the new variety as compared to that of the varieties ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’.

TABLE 1
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL SAUSALITO’,
‘DRISCOLL LANAI’ AND ‘SAN JUAN’
	‘Driscoll	‘Driscoll
	Sausalito’	Lanai’	‘San Juan’
Plant Characteristics
Height of Plant (cm)	24.7	23.4	28.9
Spread of Plant (cm)	45.6	38.3	51.7
Number of Crowns	3.5	3.3	4.3
Leaf Characteristics
Terminal Leaflet	6.9	6.7	7.5
Length (cm)
Terminal Leaflet	6.6	6.6	7.6
Width (cm)
Terminal Leaflet	1.04	1.00	0.99
Length/Width Ratio
# Teeth/Terminal	17.8	21.1	20.4
Leaflet
Color of upper side	137A	139A	147A
	medium green	medium green	medium to
			dark green
Color of under side	137C	138B	147C
	light green	light green	light green
Petiole Length (cm)	19.4	18.0	25.7
Petiole Diameter (mm)	3.6	2.9	3.7
Petiole Color	145B	145A	149A
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Petiolule Length (mm)	8.0	10.7	7.5
Petiolule Diameter	1.8	1.7	2.1
(mm)
Petiolule Color	145C	145A	149A
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Bract Frequency	8%	0%	33%
	typically		typically
	single		single
Stipule Length (cm)	3.5	3.2	3.5
Stipule Width (cm)	0.9	0.8	0.7
Stolon Characteristics
Anthocyanin color	185A	60A	59A
	greyed purple	red purple	red purple
Diameter at bract	3.16	2.93	3.49
(mm)
Avg. # of Daughter	56	59	69
plants
(2003 Nursery)
Flower Characteristics
Petal Length (cm)	1.4	1.1	1.1
Petal Width (cm)	1.3	1.2	1.2
Petal Length/Width	1.08	0.94	0.90
Ratio
Flower Diameter (cm)	3.1	2.8	2.6
Calyx Diameter (cm)	3.6	3.9	3.5
Sepal Length (mm)	11.4	11.7	11.7
Sepal Width (cm)	5.5	4.8	5.6
Color of Upper Side	155C	155C	155C
of Petal	white	white	white
Receptical Color	154C	154C	154C
	yellow green	yellow green	yellow green
Anther Color	13A	9A	9A
	yellow	yellow	yellow
Fruiting Truss Length	25.3	25.3	33.1
(cm)
Fruit Characteristics
Fruit Length (cm)	3.8	3.8	3.9
Fruit Width (cm)	3.6	4.0	4.3
Fruit Length/Width	1.04	0.96	0.90
Ratio
Average Berry Weight	2.18	23.9	25.4
(g)
External Color	46A	45B	53A
	orange red	orange red	dark red
Internal Color	35A	47C	44A
	whitish	orange red	red
Achene Coloration	185A to 162B	185B to 154B	46B to 16A
	greyed purple	greyed purple	dark red to
	to greyed	to greyed	yellow
	yellow	yellow
Achenes per berry	195	292	304
Achene weight (g)	0.0006	0.0005	0.0006
2004 Marketable Yield	1,283	1,377	984
(g/plant)

TABLE 2
QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL SAUSALITO’,
‘DRISCOLL LANAI’ AND ‘SAN JUAN’
	‘Driscoll	‘Driscoll
	Sausalito’	Lanai’
Plant
Habit	flat	flat
Canopy Density	medium	open
Vigor	weak to	medium
	medium
Leaf
Shape in cross section	slightly concave	slightly concave
		to flat
Interveinal blistering	medium	medium
Glossiness	weak	weak
Number of leaflets	three only	three only
Terminal leaflet margin profile	revolute	revolute
Terminal leaflet shape of base	rounded	rounded
Terminal leaflet shape of teeth	rounded	rounded
Stipule pubescence	sparse	medium to
		dense
Petiole pubescence	sparse to	medium dense
	medium
Petiole pose of hairs	outward	downward
Stolon
Anthocyanin coloration	very strong	strong
Thickness	medium	medium to thick
Pubescence	very sparse	dense
Inflorescence
Position relative to foliage	beneath to level	level to above
Diameter of calyx relative to	larger	same size to
corolla on secondary flowers		larger
Diameter of inner calyx relative to	larger	larger
outer on secondary flowers
Spacing of petals	overlapping	overlapping
Fruiting Truss
Attitude at first picking	prostrate	prostrate
Fruit
Predominant shape	conical	conical to ovoid
Difference in shapes between	slight	slight
primary and secondary fruits
Band without achenes	medium	narrow to
		medium
Unevenness of surface	weak	weak
Evenness of color	slightly uneven	even
Glossiness	strong	strong
Insertion of achenes	level to above	level with
	fruit surface	surface
Insertion of calyx	level to above	level
Pose of the calyx segments	spreading to	spreading to
	reflexed	reflexed
Size of calyx in relation to fruit on	same size	smaller
secondary fruit
Adherence of calyx	strong	strong
Firmness of flesh	medium	medium
Evenness of flesh color	slightly uneven	uneven
Distribution of flesh color	marginal and	marginal and
	central	central
Hollow center size	small	medium
Sweetness	strong	medium
Texture when tasted	fine	fine
Acidity	weak to	medium
	medium
Time of First Flowering After	mid-February	mid-February
Planting in 2005
Harvest Interval in 2005	early April to	late March to
	early November	early November
Type of Bearing	partially	partially
	everbearing	everbearing
		‘San Juan’
	Plant
	Habit	globose to flat
		globose
	Canopy Density	medium
	Vigor	medium
	Leaf
	Shape in cross section	flat to slightly
		convex
	Interveinal blistering	medium to
		strong
	Glossiness	weak to
		medium weak
	Number of leaflets	sometimes more
		than 3 leaflets
		(approx. 17% of
		leaves)
	Terminal leaflet margin profile	revolute to flat
	Terminal leaflet shape of base	obtuse to
		rounded
	Terminal leaflet shape of teeth	rounded
	Stipule pubescence	medium
	Petiole pubescence	medium
	Petiole pose of hairs	outward to
		downward
	Stolon
	Anthocyanin coloration	strong
	Thickness	medium
	Pubescence	medium
	Inflorescence
	Position relative to foliage	beneath to level
	Diameter of calyx relative to	larger
	corolla on secondary flowers
	Diameter of inner calyx relative to	same size
	outer on secondary flowers
	Spacing of petals	overlapping
	Fruiting Truss
	Attitude at first picking	prostrate
	Fruit
	Predominant shape	conical to
		almost
		cylindrical
	Difference in shapes between	moderate
	primary and secondary fruits
	Band without achenes	narrow
	Unevenness of surface	medium
	Evenness of color	even
	Glossiness	very strong
	Insertion of achenes	level with
		surface
	Insertion of calyx	level
	Pose of the calyx segments	spreading to
		reflexed
	Size of calyx in relation to fruit on	same size
	secondary fruit
	Adherence of calyx	strong
	Firmness of flesh	firm
	Evenness of flesh color	slightly uneven
		to even
	Distribution of flesh color	marginal and
		central
	Hollow center size	medium
	Sweetness	medium to
		strong
	Texture when tasted	medium
	Acidity	medium
	Time of First Flowering After	mid-February
	Planting in 2005
	Harvest Interval in 2005	late March to
		early November
	Type of Bearing	partially
		everbearing

TABLE 3
REACTIONS TO STRESS PESTS AND DISEASES FOR ‘DRISCOLL
SAUSALITO’, ‘DRISCOLL LANAI’ AND ‘SAN JUAN’
	‘Driscoll	‘Driscoll
	Sausalito’	Lanai’	‘San Juan’
Reaction to Pests
Tetranychus urticae	susceptible	susceptible	moderately
			susceptible
Lygus Hesperus	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Reaction To Diseases
Botrytis fruit rot	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Powdery mildew	moderately	susceptible	susceptible
	resistant
Verticillium wilt	moderately	moderately	susceptible
	resistant	resistant
Strawberry Mottle Virus	moderately	moderately	moderately
	resistant	resistant	resistant
Xanthomonas fragariae	moderately	moderately	moderately
	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible

ISOZYME ANALYSIS

In addition to the morphological description above, the new cultivar ‘Driscoll Sausalito’ 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 Sausalito’, ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘San Juan’ 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 SAUSALITO’, ‘DRISCOLL
LANAI’ AND ‘SAN JUAN’
		‘Driscoll	‘Driscoll
	Locus	Sausalito’	Lanai’	‘San Juan’
	PGI	A2	A1	A2
	LAP	B3	B3	B3
	PGM	C2	C2	C4

Claims

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