Blueberry plant named ‘DrisBlueOne’

Abstract

This invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant named ‘DrisBlueOne’ primarily characterized by large berries with medium sweetness, medium acidity, and slightly oblate spherical berry shape and berries that have green flesh, is disclosed.

Description

Genus and species: Vaccinium corymbosum.

Variety denomination: ‘DrisBlueOne’.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW PLANT

The present invention relates to a new and distinct blueberry cultivar designated ‘DrisBlueOne’ and botanically known as Vaccinium corymbosum. This new blueberry cultivar was discovered in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Calif. in September 2000 as a result of a hybridization between the female parent, ‘MS7’a proprietary unpatented variety and the male parent, ‘Jubilee’ an unpatented variety.

The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated at a nursery in Watsonville, Monterey County, Calif. ‘DrisBlueOne’ was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing at a nursery in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Calif. for seven years. ‘DrisBlueOne’ has been asexually propagated via softwood cuttings. The present invention has been found to be stable and reproduce true to type through successive asexual propagations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following are the most outstanding and distinguishing characteristics of this new cultivar when grown under normal horticultural practices in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Calif.

1. Large berries with medium sweetness;

2. Medium acidity and a slightly oblate spherical berry shape; and

3. Berries that have green flesh.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying color photographs show typical specimens of the new cultivar at various stages of development as nearly true as it is possible to make in color reproductions. The photographs are of plants that are 7 years old.

FIG. 1 shows both the upper surface and lower surface of the leaves.

FIG. 2 shows the mature flowers.

FIG. 3 shows the whole fruit and a longitudinal-section of the fruit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW CULTIVAR

The following description of ‘DrisBlueOne’ is based on observations taken from the 2007 growing season in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Calif., where the age of the ‘DrisBlueOne’ plants was 7 years, while the age of the comparison variety ‘O'Neal’ plants was 12 years old. All descriptions are 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. ‘DrisBlueOne’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. Color terminology follows The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, London (R.H.S.) (2001).

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

Table 1 shows plant characteristics of the new variety compared with plant characteristics of blueberry plant ‘O'Neal’ (unpatented). Table 1 includes plant, canopy and cane characteristics.

	TABLE I
	Characteristic	‘DrisBlueOne’	‘O'Neal’
	Plant:
	Vigor	Strong	Low
	Growth habit	Bushy	Bushy
	Chilling requirement	Medium	Medium
	Propagation	From softwood	From softwood
		cuttings	cuttings
	Canopy:
	Bush height (cm)	55	134
	Canopy width (cm)	63	124
	Height/Width ratio	0.9	1.1
	Canes:
	Age at maturity (years)	3 years	3 years
	Mature cane texture	Rough	Rough
	Mature cane diameter (cm)	1.08	0.734
	Mature cane length (cm)	66.2	69.0
	Mature cane color	RHS 146C	RHS 138A
		(yellow-green)	(green)
	Cane renewal	Medium	Weak

Table 2 shows plant characteristics of the new variety compared with plant characteristics of blueberry plant ‘O'Neal’ (unpatented). Table 2 includes bud, calyx, corolla, flower and pedicel characteristics. Where “n/a” appears for a characteristic, it indicates a characteristic is not available.

TABLE 2
Characteristic	‘DrisBlueOne’	‘O'Neal’
Bud:
Time of bud break	Medium	Early
Flowers per bud	10	6
Calyx:
Diameter at anthesis (cm)	0.856	0.658
Lobe count	5	5
Color	RHS 139A	RHS 145C (light
	(dark green)	yellow-green)
Corolla:
General	Petals fused into a	Petals fused into a
	corolla with 5 lobes	corolla with 5 lobes
Length (cm)	0.794	1.014
Diameter (cm)	0.838	0.886
Aperature diameter (cm)	0.58	0.334
Mature color	RHS 157C	RHS 155A (white)
	(green-white)
Flower:
Type	Perfect hypogynous	Perfect hypogynous
	(inferior ovary);	(inferior ovary);
	stamens attached at	stamens attached at
	base of fused corolla	base of fused
	tube	corolla tube
Shape	Urceolate	Urceolate
Fragrance	Faint	Very faint
Size	Large	Medium
50% anthesis (full bloom)	March 18th	n/a
1% bloom	Medium	Early
Pedicel:
Color	RHS 143D	RHS 144D
	(green-white)	(light yellow-green)
Length (cm)	0.678	0.478

Table 3 shows plant characteristics of the new variety compared with plant characteristics of blueberry plant ‘O'Neal’ (unpatented). Table 3 includes leaf and shoot characteristics.

TABLE 3
Characteristic	‘DrisBlueOne’	‘O'Neal’
Leaves:
Arrangement	Alternate	Alternate
Shape	Broadly elliptic to	Simple and broadly
	oval	elliptic to slightly ovate
Apex	Broadly acute	Broadly acute
Base	Broadly acute to	Broadly acute to slightly
	rounded	cuneate
Margin	Entire	Entire
Pubescence	Glabrous	Glabrous
(both surfaces)
Length (cm)	6.502	6.620
Width (cm)	3.958	3.440
Length/width ratio	1.6	1.9
Color, upper surface	RHS 137A (green)	RHS 137A (green)
Color, lower surface	RHS 137C (green)	RHS 138B (green)
Venation	Reticulate	Reticulate
Petiole:
Length (cm)	0.37	0.40
Color	RHS 145B	RHS N144D
	(yellow-green)	(yellow-green)
Shoots:
Internode length (cm)	1.72	1.634

Table 4 shows plant characteristics of the new variety compared with plant characteristics of blueberry plant ‘O'Neal’ (unpatented). Table 4 includes berry, skin, peduncle and seed characteristics.

TABLE 4
Characteristic	‘DrisBlueOne’	‘O'Neal’
Berry:
Shape	Slightly oblate	Slightly oblate sphere
	sphere
Size	Large	Medium
Weight (g)	1.77	1.39
Height	1.346	1.284
(cm, pedicel scar to calyx)
Diameter	1.684	1.508
(cm at widest point)
Height/diameter ratio	0.80	0.85
Firmness	Very firm	Medium
Sweetness	Medium	Strong
Acidity	Medium	Mild
Season/timing (25% ripe)	Mid-season	Early season
Season/timing (50% ripe)	June 17th	June 14th
Pedicel scar diameter (cm)	0.248	0.16
Skin:
Bloom deposition	Strong/heavy	Medium
Mature color with bloom	RHS 104D (blue)	RHS 98C (violet-blue)
Mature color without bloom	RHS 103A (blue)	RHS 103A (blue)
Immature color with bloom	RHS 142C (green)	RHS 143D
		(light green)
Flesh:
Color	RHS 145B (green)	RHS 157A
		(green-white)
Seed:
Abundance	16 per fruit	27 per fruit
Color	RHS N167A	RHS 165B
	(orange-brown)	(greyed-orange)
Length (cm)	0.184	0.200
Width (cm)	0.124	0.112
Length/width ratio	1.48	1.79

Table 5 shows plant characteristics of the new variety compared with plant characteristics of blueberry plant ‘O'Neal’ (unpatented). Table 5 includes the reproductive organs.

TABLE 5
Characteristic	‘DrisBlueOne’	‘O'Neal’
Reproductive Organs:
Ovary color	RHS 122A	RHS 133C (green)
	(blue-green)
Pollen color	RHS 11C (yellow)	RHS 8D (light yellow)
Anther color	RHS 172B	RHS N170A
	(greyed-orange)	(greyed-orange)
Style length, including	0.812 cm	0.810 cm
stigma (cm)
Pollination requirement	Believed to be self-
	fertile

• Resistance to diseases and insects: Disease and insect resistance are typical of the species.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTAL VARIETIES

When ‘DrisBlueOne’ is compared to the female parent ‘MS7’ (unpatented), ‘DrisBlueOne’ has a more spherical berry shape and stronger flavor, while ‘MS7’ has a more oblate berry shape and a milder flavor.

When ‘DrisBlueOne’ is compared to the male parent ‘Jubilee’ (unpatented), ‘DrisBlueOne’ has a bushy growth habit and large berries, while ‘Jubilee’ has an upright growth habit and small to medium-sized berries.

Claims

1. A new and distinct cultivar of blueberry plant as described and shown herein.