USPP32930P3

USPP32930P3 - Strawberry plant named ‘Caprice’

Info

Publication number: USPP32930P3
Application number: US15/998,932
Authority: US
Inventors: John Larse
Original assignee: Sweet Darling Sales Inc
Current assignee: Sweet Darling Sales Inc
Priority date: 2017-08-25
Filing date: 2018-08-23
Publication date: 2021-03-30
Also published as: USPP31772P3; US20190069457P1; US20190069458P1

Abstract

The present invention provides a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Caprice’ (a.k.a. ‘109862’).

Description

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

Varietal denomination: ‘Caprice’ (a.k.a. ‘109862’).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Caprice’ (a.k.a. ‘109862’).

‘Caprice’ (a.k.a. 109862) is the result of a controlled-cross between a female parent cultivar designated ‘109013’ (not patented) and a male parent cultivar designated ‘Crystalina’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,867) made by the Inventor and was first fruited in Watsonville, Calif. growing fields. Following selection and during testing, the plant was originally designated ‘109862’ and subsequently named ‘Caprice’. ‘Caprice’ is a day-neutral plant.

This 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 this plant were found to be transmissible by such asexual reproduction. This plant is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and distinctive strawberry plant designated as ‘Caprice’ (a.k.a. ‘109862’). This 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 the strawberry plant ‘Caprice’ from known strawberry plants. In addition, this plant was 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.

‘Albion’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,228) is a commercial strawberry variety that is similar to, but distinguished from ‘Caprice’. The fruit yield of ‘Caprice’ exceeds the yield of ‘Albion’ in multiple annual testing cycles performed at the breeder's test location in Watsonville, Calif. ‘Caprice’ presents fruits that are smaller than the fruit of ‘Albion’. The cull rate 15 of marketable fruit is lower than the cull rate of ‘Albion’.

When compared to the proprietary male parent, ‘Caprice’ has smaller fruit than its male parent. Additionally, ‘Caprice’ produces more fruit and is a larger plant than the male parent. When compared to the proprietary female parent, ‘Caprice’ is a larger, more upright plant than the female parent. Additionally, ‘Caprice’ has longer petioles and larger fruit than the female parent.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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

FIG. 2 shows ripe and near-ripe fruits of ‘Caprice’ about 8-month old.

FIG. 3 shows flowers of ‘Caprice’.

FIG. 4 shows fruits of ‘Caprice’.

FIG. 5 shows cut fruits of ‘Caprice’.

FIG. 6 shows upper leaf of ‘Caprice’.

FIG. 7 shows lower leaf of ‘Caprice’.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

‘Caprice’ (a.k.a. ‘109862’)

The following traits in combination distinguish strawberry variety ‘Caprice’ 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.

‘Caprice’ 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 plants were 8-month old when the observation was made.

TABLE 1

‘Caprice’ Characteristics

Type	Characteristic	‘Caprice’

General	Cross date	2014 Jan. 17
	Age of plant when described	8 months
	Self fertility	Not tested
	Thrips susceptibility	Low
	Powdery Mildew susceptibility	Moderate
	Plant habit	Annual
	Plant growth habit	Upright
	Day length	Day neutral
	Planting season	Fall
	Root type	Fibrous and
		branching
	Root color (RHS color code)	18C to 155B
	Plant Height (cm)	35
	Plant Width (cm)	32
	Density of foliage	Medium
	Plant vigor	Moderate to high
	Freezing quality	Moderate
	Rain/weather tolerance	Moderate
	Harvest ease	Moderate
	Crown diameter (cm)	8.0 to 10.0
Leaf	Trifoliate leaf length (cm)	14.5 to 16.0
	Trifoliate leaf width (cm)	13.0 to 14.0
	Trifoliate leaf shape	Flat
	Leaf blistering	Weak
	Leaf glossiness	Strong
	Leaf variegation	Absent
	Number of leaflets per Leaf	3
	Terminal leaflet width (mm)	70 to 80
	Terminal leaflet length (mm)	77.5
	Terminal leaflet length/width ratio	0.9 to 1.03
	Number of teeth/terminal leaflet	25
	Shape of terminal leaflet	Orbicular
	Shape of the terminal leaflet apex	Rounded
	Shape of the terminal leaflet base	Obtuse to rounded
	Shape of terminal leaflet in	Straight
	cross-section
	Shape of terminal leaflet margin	Serrate to crenate
	Color of upper side of leaflets	137A
	(RHS color code)
	Color of lower side of leaflets	137C
	(RHS color code)
Limbs	Petiole length (cm)	26.5
	Petiole diameter (mm)	3.68
	Petiole texture	Puberulous
	Petiole pubescence medium to dense	Medium to dense
	Petiole pose of hairs horizontal	Horizontal
	Petiole color (RHS color code)	145A
	Petiolule length (cm)	1.5
	Petiolule diameter (mm)	2.32
	Stipule number	2 per petiole
	Stipule length (cm)	2.5
	Stipule width (cm)	0.7
	Stipule shape	Lanceolate
	Stipule apex	Acuminate
	Stipule margin	Entire
	Stipule base	Truncate
	Stipule texture	Puberulous
	Stipule pubescence	Medium to dense
	Stipule anthocyanin	Weak
	Stipule color (RHS color code)	149D
	Stipule anthocyanin color (RHS color	58B to 55A
	code)
	Pedicel length (cm)	11.0 to 22.0
	Pedicel diameter (mm)	2.0 to 2.6
	Pedicel color (RHS color code)	145A
	Pedicel texture	Puberulous
	Pedicel pubescence	Sparse
	Peduncle size	Medium
	Peduncle length (cm)	7.0 to 14.0
	Peduncle diameter (mm)	2.59 to 3.65
	Peduncle texture	Puberulous
	Peduncle pubescence	Medium
	Attitude of hairs on petiole and	Upwards
	pedicel
Inflorescence	Time of flowering (50% of plants in	March to April
	bloom)
	Lastingness of bloom	7 to 10 days
	Inflorescence position relative to	Above
	foliage
	Number of flowers per inflorescence	3 to 6
	Flower arrangement of petals	Touching
	Flower diameter (cm)	2
	Flower bud shape	Globose, obovate
	Flower bud length (cm)	1.7 to 2.5
	Flower bud diameter (cm)	1.1
	Flower bud texture	Puberulous
	Flower bud pubescence	Dense
	Flower bud color (RHS color code)	145B
	Petal length (cm)	1.3
	Petal width (cm)	1.5
	Petal length/ width ratio	0.87
	Number of Petal per flower	5 to 6
	Upper Petal color (RHS color code)	155C
	Lower Petal color (RHS color code)	155C
	Petal shape	Orbicular
	Petal apex	Rounded
	Petal margin	Entire
	Petal base shape	Concave
	Corolla depth (mm)	9 to 13
	Corolla diameter (cm)	2
	Floral Calyx diameter (cm)	3 to 4
	Calyx diameter relative to corolla	Larger
	Inner calyx diameter relative to	Equal to smaller
	outer calyx
	Sepal number per flower	10
	Sepal length (cm)	1.1
	Sepal width (cm)	0.7
	Sepal shape	Elliptical
	Sepal apex	Convex
	Sepal margin	Entire
	Upper sepal texture	Smooth
	Lower sepal texture	Puberulous
	Lower sepal pubescence	Medium
	Upper sepal color (RHS color code)	137A
	Lower sepal color (RHS color code)	137C
	Pistil number	121 to 286
	Pistil length (mm)	2.0 to 2.25
	Shape of stigma	Capitate
	Color of stigma (RHS color code)	12A
	Length of style (mm)	2
	Color of style (RHS color code)	4A
	Color of the ovary (RHS color code)	145A
	Length of the stamens (mm)	4
	Number of stamen	23 to 25
	Anther diameter (mm)	1.0 to 1.25
	Anther length (mm)	1.0 to 2.0
	Shape of anther	Dorsifixed
	Size of anther	Medium
	Color of anther (RHS color code)	12A
	Amount of pollen	Medium
	Color of pollen (RHS color code)	12A
	Length of filament (mm)	4
	Color of filament (RHS color code)	149D
Stolon	Stolon length (cm)	33 to 77
	Stolon number	2 to 5
	Stolon shape	Filiform
	Stolon anthocyanin (RHS color code)	181A
	Stolon thickness	Medium
	Stolon texture	Puberulous
	Stolon pubescence	Sparse to medium
	Widest diameter of stolon at leaf	4.62
	attachment (mm)
	Stolon color (RHS color code)	145A
Fruit	Number of fruit per truss	2 to 4
	Fruiting truss length (cm)	7.0 to 14.0
	Fruiting truss diameter (mm)	3.50 to 7.65
	Fruiting truss attitude	Prostrate
	Shape difference between primary &	No shape
	secondary fruits	difference
	Predominant fruit shape	Conic
	Fruit calyx diameter (cm)	3.3 to 5.3
	Color of calyx (RHS color code)	136A
	Position of calyx	Even
	Level of adherence of calyx	Medium
	Pose of calyx segments	Spreading to
		reflexed
	Size of calyx in relation to fruit	Equal
	Fruit length (cm)	34.1
	Fruit width (cm)	29.5
	Fruit length/width ratio	1.16
	Fruit skin color (RHS color code)	41A
	Fruit flesh color excluding core (RHS	44A
	color code)
	Fruit core color (RHS color code)	41A
	Fruit weight (g)	22.7
	Relative fruit size	Medium
	Fruit glossiness	Medium
	Firmness of flesh	Medium
	Evenness of flesh color	Nearly even
	Hollow core length (cm)	1.1 to 2.7
	Hollow core width (cm)	0.8 to 1.5
	Hollow core length/width ratio	1.38 to 1.80
	Hollow core size	Medium
	Width of band without of achenes	Narrow
	Position of achenes in relation to skin	Below surface
	surface
	Achene color (RHS color code)	145B
	Achenes per fruit	288
	Achene weight (g)	0.17
	Surface/skin texture	Smooth
	Texture when tasted	Medium
	Flavor	Sweet
	Sweetness (brix)	10
	Acidity (pH)	3.45
	Type of bearing	Day neutral
	Time of fruit ripening	May to June
	Harvest maturity (50% of plants	June
	with ripe fruit)
	First picking harvest	Mid-March
	Last picking harvest	Mid-September
	Appearance score	4
	Storage longevity	8 to 10 days
	Yield (kg per plant per season)	2.791
	Cull rate: 100% - Marketable yield %	<15%

Claims

The invention claimed is:

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