USPP31772P3 - Strawberry plant named ‘Omaha’ - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Omaha’ (a.k.a. ‘109393’).

Description

Latin name of the genus and species: Fragaria x ananassa.

Varietal denominations: ‘Omaha’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Omaha’ (a.k.a. ‘109393’).

‘Omaha’ (a.k.a. ‘109393’) is the result of a controlled-cross between a female parent cultivar designated ‘Taia’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,724) and a male parent cultivar designated ‘Ginza’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,934) made by the Inventor and was first fruited in Watsonville, Calif. growing fields. Following selection and during testing, the plant was originally designated ‘109393’ and subsequently named ‘Omaha’. ‘Omaha’ is a day-neutral plant.

The new strawberry plant was asexually reproduced via runners (stolons) by the inventor at Watsonville, Calif. Asexual propagules from the original source have been tested in Watsonville growing fields and to a limited extent, grower fields in high elevation. The properties of these plant were found to be transmissible by such asexual reproduction. These plants are stable and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to new and distinctive strawberry plant designated as ‘Omaha’ (a.k.a. ‘109393’). The plant is primarily adapted to the climate and growing conditions of the central coast of California. This region provides the necessary temperatures required for it to produce a strong vigorous plant and to remain in fruit production from March through October. The nearby Pacific Ocean provides the needed humidity and moderate day temperatures and evening chilling to maintain fruit quality for the production months.

The following traits and photographs in combination distinguish strawberry plant ‘Omaha’ from known strawberry plants. In addition, these plants were confirmed, or will be confirmed to be a unique strawberry germplasm using Short Sequence Repeats (SSRs). Plants for the botanical measurements in the present application were grown as annuals. Any color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying color photographs depict various characteristics of the cultivars as nearly true as possible to make color reproductions.

FIG. 1A shows ‘Omaha’ plant about 6-month old.

FIG. 1B shows ripe and near-ripe fruits of ‘Omaha’ about 8-month old.

FIG. 1C shows flowers of ‘Omaha’.

FIG. 1D shows fruits of ‘Omaha’.

FIG. 1E shows cut fruits of ‘Omaha’.

FIG. 1F shows upper leaf of ‘Omaha’.

FIG. 1G shows lower leaf of ‘Omaha’.

FIG. 1H shows petiole of ‘Omaha’.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION ‘Omaha’ (a.k.a. ‘109393’)

The following traits and photographs in combination distinguish strawberry variety ‘Omaha’ from the known strawberry varieties. Plants for the botanical measurements in the present application were grown as annuals. In the following description, color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 1995 Edition, except where general terms of ordinary dictionary significance are used.

‘Omaha’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions, and the phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment. The following observations, measurements, and comparisons describe this plant as grown under normal conditions in Watsonville, Calif. unless otherwise noted. The age of plants when described in Table 1 below is eight months.

TABLE 1
‘Omaha’ Characteristics

CharType	Characteristic	‘Omaha’
General	Plant Habit	annual
	Plant Growth Habit	semi-upright
	Day length	Day Neutral
	Plant Height (cm)	28
	Plant Width (cm)	33
	Density of foliage	medium
	Plant vigor	moderate to high
	Crown diameter (cm)	3.0 to 4.0
Leaf	Leaflets per Leaf	3
	Terminal leaflet width (mm)	8.9
	Terminal leaflet length (mm)	7.4
	Teeth per terminal leaflet:	23
	Shape of the terminal leaflet base	acute to obtuse
	Shape of terminal leaflet in cross-	straight to
	section	concave
	Shape of the terminal leaflet margin	serrate to crenate
	Color of upper side of leaflet	137A
	Color of lower side of leaflet	137C
	Leaf blistering	weak
	Leaf glossiness	medium
	Petiole length (cm)	20 to 25
	Petiole diameter (mm)	3.28
Limbs	Petiole color	145A
	Petiolule length (cm)	1
	Petiolule diameter (mm)	2.28
	Petiolule Color	145A
	Stipule length (cm)	2.8
	Stipule width (cm)	1.1
	Stipule anthocyanin color	53A
	Stipule color (color code)	145A
	Pedicel length (cm)	9.5 to 16.5
	Pedicel diameter (mm)	1.34
	Pedicel color (color code)	145A
	attitude of hairs on	outwards
	petiole and pedicel
	Inflorescence position relative to	above
	foliage
	Flower arrangement of petals	touching
	Peduncle length (cm)	16.0 to 29.5
	Peduncle diameter (mm)	2.67
	Peduncle color (RHS color code)	145A
	Peduncle pubescence	medium
Inflorescence	Petal length (cm)	1.4
	Petal width (cm)	1.4
	Petal number per flower	5 to 6
	Upper Petal color	155C
	Lower Petal color	155C
	Calyx diameter (cm)	4
	Corolla diameter (cm)	2.75
	Sepal length (cm)	1.1 to 2.1
	Sepal width (cm)	0.8 to 1.1
	Time of flowering	March
	(50% of plants in bloom)
	Shape of stigma	capitate
	Color of stigma	6A
	Length of style (mm)	2
	Color of style	6A
	Color of the ovary	145A
	Length of the stamens (mm)	3 to 5.5
	Number of stamen	24 to 33
	Shape of anther	dorsifixed
	Size of anther	small
	Anther length (mm)	0.75
	Shape of anther	dorsifixed
	Color of anther	12A
	Amount of pollen	medium
	Color of pollen	4A
	Color of filament	149D
	Length of filament (mm)	2.5 to 5
	Number of flowers per truss	3 to 6
	Stolon number	2 to 5
	Stolon anthocyanin	181A
Stolon	Widest diameter of stolon	3.83
	At leaf attachment (mm)
	Stolon color	145A
	Stolon length (cm)	51
	Stolon number	2 to 5
	Stolon anthocyanin	181A
	Widest diameter of stolon at leaf	3.83
	attachment (mm)
	Fruit length (cm)	40.4
Fruit	Number of fruit per truss	3 to 4
	Shape difference between	No shape
	primary and secondary fruits	difference
	Fruit width (cm)	30.7
	Fruit skin color	45A
	Fruit flesh color excluding core	44A
	Fruit core color	41A
	Fruit weight (g)	23.6
	Predominant fruit shape	long conic
	Shape difference between primary	No shape
	& secondary fruits	difference
	Width of band without of achenes	narrow
	Fruit glossiness	medium to strong
	Position of achenes	below surface
	Achene color	145A
	Achenes per fruit	273
	Achene weight (g)	0.19
	Position of calyx	inserted
	level of adherence of calyx	medium
	Color of calyx	137A
	Firmness of flesh	medium to firm
	Evenness of flesh color	even
	Sweetness (brix)	6 to 7
	pH	3.51
	Yield (g per plant per season)	2758

‘Albion’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,228) owned by University of California is a commercial strawberry variety that is similar to, but distinguished from ‘Omaha’. The fruit yield of ‘Omaha’ exceeds the yield of ‘Albion’ in multiple annual testing cycles performed at the breeders test location in Watsonville Calif. ‘Omaha’ produces abundant quantities of stolon that must be cut by hand labor in the fruiting field. ‘Omaha’ does not produce large quantities of stolon (runners) during the fruiting period after propagation in California nurseries and Watsonville fruiting field, which saves labor of about $1,500 per acre because stolon must be removed in order to effect efficient harvest and continued flowering.

Both of the parents of ‘Omaha’ produce fruit that is lighter in redness coloration than ‘Omaha’. One of the parents of ‘Omaha’, a strawberry plant variety named ‘Ginza’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,934) has been observed to have foliage of a lighter green coloration than ‘Omaha’. The foliage and plant structure of ‘Ginza’ is more dense than that of ‘Omaha’. The other parent of ‘Omaha’ is a strawberry plant variety named ‘Taia’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,724). The foliage and plant structure of ‘Taia’ is somewhat more dense than that of ‘Omaha’. The foliage and plant structure of ‘Omaha’ allows better fruit harvest visibility and the canopy can be described as more open than the canopy observed for of each of it's parents. ‘Omaha’ demonstrated better shelf life, less susceptibility to bruising discoloration and the skin of the fruit of ‘Omaha’ was observed to better resist abrasion compared to each of it's parents in testing done over multiple weeks of annual fruiting seasons. When ‘Omaha’ is compared to the male parent, ‘Omaha’ is a smaller plant. Additionally, ‘Omaha’ presents fruit with a stronger red color and with a longer fruit shape than the male parent. When ‘Omaha’ is compared to the female parent, ‘Omaha’ presents a higher strawberry pH than the strawberries of the female parent. Additionally, ‘Omaha’ is less dense with foliage and presents fruit with a longer fruit shape than the female parent.

Claims (1)

The invention claimed is:

1. A new and distinct cultivar of strawberry plant named ‘Omaha’ substantially as shown and described herein.

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