Blueberry plant named ‘DrisBlueTwo’

Abstract

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

Description

Genus and species: Vaccinium corymbosum.

Variety denomination: ‘DrisBlueTwo’.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW PLANT

The present invention relates to a new and distinct blueberry cultivar designated ‘DrisBlueTwo’ and botanically known as Vaccinium corymbosum. This new blueberry cultivar was discovered in Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, Calif. in September 2000 and originated from a cross between the female parent blueberry plant ‘Magnolia’ (unpatented) and the proprietary male parent blueberry plant ‘MS189’ (unpatented).

The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated at a nursery in Watsonville in Monterey County, Calif. ‘DrisBlueTwo’ was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing at a nursery in Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, Calif. for seven years. ‘DrisBlueTwo’ 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 in Santa Cruz, Calif.

• • 1. Medium-large berries with medium sweetness;
  • 2. Medium acidity and a nearly 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 photos are of plants that are seven years old.

FIG. 1 shows a close-up of a leaf cluster.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up of both the upper surface and lower surface of the leaves.

FIG. 3 shows a close-up of the mature flowers.

FIG. 4 shows a close-up of the whole fruit and a cross-section of the fruit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW CULTIVAR

The following description of ‘DrisBlueTwo’ is based on observations taken from the 2007 growing season in Santa Cruz, Calif., where the age of the ‘DrisBlueTwo’ plants was 7 years, while the age of the O'Neal plants were 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. ‘DrisBlueTwo’ 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 1
Characteristic	‘DrisBlueTwo’	‘O'Neal’
Plant:
Vigor	Strong	Low
Growth habit	Spreading to	Bushy
	ascending shrub
Chilling requirement	Medium; believed to	Medium
	be no more than
	500-600 hours below
	45° C. based on
	observations in
	Watsonville,
	California
Hardiness	At least to USDA
	Zone 9b based on
	performance in
	Watsonville,
	California
Propagation	From softwood	From softwood
	cuttings	cuttings
Canopy:
Bush height (cm)	129	134
Canopy width (cm)	133	124
Height/Width ratio	1.0	1.1
Canes:
Mature cane diameter (cm)	0.836	0.734
Mature cane length (cm)	78.2	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.

TABLE 2
Characteristic	‘DrisBlueTwo’	‘O'Neal’
Bud:
Time of bud break	Medium	Early
Flowers per bud	8	6
Calyx:
Diameter at anthesis (cm)	0.66	0.658
Lobe count	5	5
Color	RHS 138B	RHS 145C
	(medium green)	(light yellow-green)
Corolla:
Petals, general	Fused into a corolla	Fused into a corolla
	with 5 lobes	with 5 lobes
Length (cm)	1.042	1.014
Diameter (cm)	0.624	0.886
Aperature diameter (cm)	0.416	0.334
Mature color	RHS 157B (white)	RHS 155A (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
Number of flowers per	Eight	Six
cluster
Fragrance	Absent to faint	Very faint
Size	Medium	Medium
50% anthesis (full bloom)	March 15th
1% bloom	Medium	Early
Peduncle:
Length	0.27 cm	0.13 cm
Color	RHS N144D	RHS 144A
	(Yellow-green)	(Dark yellow-green)
Pedicel:
Color	RHS N144D	RHS 144D
	(light yellow-green)	(light yellow-green)
Length (cm)	0.612	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	‘DrisBlueTwo’	‘O'Neal’
Leaves:
Arrangement	Alternate	Alternate
Shape	Broadly elliptic to	Simple and broadly
	slightly ovate	elliptic to slightly ovate
Apex	Broadly acute to	Broadly acute
	acuminate
Base	Broadly acute	Broadly acute to slightly
		cuneate
Margin	Serrulate	Entire
Pubescence	Absent-glabrous	Absent-glabrous
Length (cm)	0.658	0.662
Width (cm)	3.92	3.44
Length/width ratio	0.2	1.9
Color, upper surface	RHS 137A (green)	RHS 137A (green)
Color, lower surface	RHS N138B (green)	RHS 138B (green)
Venation	Reticulate	Reticulate
Petiole:
Length (cm)	0.42	0.40
Color	RHS N144D	RHS N144D
	(yellow-green)	(yellow-green)
Shoots:
Internode length (cm)	0.862	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	‘DrisBlueTwo’	‘O'Neal’
Berry:
Shape	Nearly spherical	Slightly oblate sphere
Size	Medium-large	Medium
Weight (g)	1.5	1.39
Height	1.564	1.284
(cm, pedicel scar to calyx)
Diameter	1.796	1.508
(cm at widest point)
Height/diameter ratio	0.87	0.85
Firmness	Firm	Medium
Sweetness	Medium	Strong
Acidity	Medium	Mild
Season/timing (25% ripe)	Early to mid-season	Early season
Season/timing (50% ripe)	June 8th	June 14th
Pedicel scar diameter (cm)	0.168	0.16
Skin:
Bloom deposition	Weak	Medium
Mature color with bloom	RHS 102C (blue)	RHS 98C (violet-blue)
Mature color without bloom	RHS 103A (blue)	RHS 103A (blue)
Immature color with bloom	RHS 191A (green)	RHS 143D
		(light green)
Flesh:
Color	RHS 193C (green)	RHS 157A
		(green-white)
Seed:
Abundance	19 per fruit	27 per fruit
Color	RHS 164A	RHS 165B
	(orange-brown)	(greyed-orange)
Length (cm)	0.170	0.200
Width (cm)	0.130	0.112
Length/width ratio	1.31	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	‘DrisBlueTwo’	‘O'Neal’
Reproductive Organs:
Ovary color	RHS 122A	RHS 133C (green)
	(blue-green)
Pollen color	RHS 11C (yellow)	RHS 8D (light-
		yellow)
Pollen abundance	Sparse	Sparse
Anther length	0.46 cm	0.488 cm
Anther color	RHS N167A	RHS N170A
	(greyed-orange)	(greyed-orange)
Style length, including	0.928 cm	0.810 cm
stigma (cm)

• Resistance to diseases and insects: Disease resistance is typical of blueberry plants.

COMPARISON WITH PARENTAL VARIETIES

When ‘DrisBlueTwo’ is compared with the female parent ‘Magnolia’ (unpatented), ‘DrisBlueTwo’ has medium-large berries that are nearly spherical in shape, while ‘Magnolia’ has small berries that are oblate in shape.

When ‘DrisBlueTwo’ is compared to the male parent ‘MS189’ (unpatented), ‘DrisBlueTwo’ has medium-large berries with medium sweetness, while ‘MS189’ has medium-sized berries with mild flavor.

Claims

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