Strawberry plant named ‘Sweet Ann’
A new and distinct variety of strawberry plant named ‘Sweet Ann.’ This new day-neutral strawberry variety is characterized by vigorous plants which produce high yields of large to very large, sweet fruit with an excellent flavor; well-shaped, long and conical fruit, having a glossy medium red exterior and medium red interior; and which plants maintain an open architecture.
Latin name of genus and species: Fragaria×ananassa.
Variety denomination: ‘Sweet Ann’.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Sweet Ann.’ This new day-neutral strawberry variety is the result of a controlled cross in an ongoing breeding program made by the inventor, Jimmy Bagdasarian, in 2005. Said cross was between a strawberry variety designated ‘4A28,’ a female, and a strawberry variety designated ‘10B131,’ a male, in the ongoing breeding program. Pollen taken from a ‘10B131’ plant pollinated a female ‘4A28’ plant bearing flowers with no anthers. The flowers were covered so that no other pollen could contaminate the procedure. The variety is botanically known as Fragaria×ananassa.
The aforementioned controlled cross was carried out in a breeding program at Santa Cruz, Calif., USA. Strawberries developed, were later harvested and the seeds resulting from this cross were extracted and germinated in a greenhouse at Redding, Calif., USA. The resulting seedlings were transplanted to Shastina, Calif. in 2006, and grown for an additional period of time. The seedlings were asexually propagated by stolons in breeding plots in late September to Mid-October in: Irvine, Calif.; Oxnard, Calif.; Santa Maria, Calif.; and Watsonville, Calif. The new variety, designated ‘16F29,’ was selected at Irvine, Calif. (Orange County) in 2007 from among various sibling genotypes as the 29th selection, and later named ‘Sweet Ann.’
The new variety has also been “meristemed”: small pieces of plant buds (approximately 0.5 mm in diameter) consisting of the undifferentiated meristem tissue and one or two leaf primordia were removed from the buds on crowns of young daughter plants, and then placed on nutrient medium and new plants grown from them. Planting stock from “meristemed” plants are growing in a screenhouse located in Redding, Calif.
The new variety was further asexually propagated by stolons in Macdoel, Calif. (Siskiyou County), Shasta County, and Manteca, Calif. (San Joaquin County). The propagules of ‘Sweet Ann’ (‘16F29’) are identical to the original plant in all distinguishing characteristics; accordingly, the propagation has demonstrated that the traits disclosed herein remain fixed and true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONSweet Ann is a day-neutral variety exhibiting the following combination of characteristics, which have been observed repeatedly and which distinguish this strawberry plant as a new and distinct variety:
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- 1. The variety produces large to very large sized fruit;
- 2. The fruit is generally well shaped, long and conical;
- 3. The fruit is attractive, having a glossy medium red exterior and medium red interior;
- 4. The fruit has a good acid-sugar balance, is sweet tasting, with an excellent flavor;
- 5. The variety produces few runners in the fruiting field;
- 6. The variety exhibits high productivity of fruit; and
- 7. The plants are vigorous and maintain an open architecture.
The primary market for the ‘Sweet Ann’ variety is fresh market sales of the fruit. ‘Sweet Ann’ produces large sized, moderately firm berries that have an excellent flavor. The berries produced by the ‘Sweet Ann’ variety are also sweet tasting, a very important characteristic for fresh fruit. Table 1 shows a comparison of the Brix levels of ‘Sweet Ann’ as compared with ‘Albion’ and ‘San Andreas’ varieties. The sugar levels of each of the varieties were measured with a refractometer on Nov. 11, 2009, and are set forth in degrees Brix (°Bx).
‘Sweet Ann’ possesses other characteristics that are also commonly sought by commercial strawberry growers. The early fruit can be picked with petioles attached and sold as long stemmed berries. “Long stems” are prized as a very special ingredient in some dessert recipes, and typically bring a premium price. In addition, ‘Sweet Ann’ berries retain their firmness, color and quality even following long distance shipment.
The following Table 2 evidences the superior production of ‘Sweet Ann’ as compared to ‘Ventana,’ ‘Camarosa,’ ‘Albion,’ and ‘Palomar.’ Data was collected in Irvine, Calif. from Dec. 12, 2008 through Mar. 2, 2009, to calculate the average weight in grams per berry, and the average number of crates of berries produced per acre, for each of the varieties.
The accompanying color photographs, identified as
Leaf samples from three (3) plants of the the variety initially designated as ‘16F29,’ and later named ‘Sweet Ann,’ were submitted for analysis to a lab for allelic fingerprint. Each of the three (3) allelic fingerprints, from the three (3) leaf samples submitted, was the same as compared to each other. Upon analysis, ‘16F29’ was shown by allelic fingerprinting to be distinct and unique compared to the lab's large database of allelic fingerprints.
‘Sweet Ann’ is the result of a cross between a strawberry variety designated ‘4A28’ and a strawberry variety designated ‘10B131.’ The female parent, ‘4A28,’ is an unreleased proprietary variety having the following plant characteristics: strongly day-neutral; small size; globose habit; open density; and low plant vigor. The male parent, ‘10B131,’ is an unreleased proprietary variety having the following plant characteristics: medium day-neutral; globose habit; tight density; and medium plant vigor. The resulting variety, named ‘Sweet Ann,’ has the following characteristics: weak day-neutral; large size; globose habit; open density; and high plant vigor.
The new variety was asexually propagated by stolons as described above. ‘Sweet Ann’ has not been observed under all possible variants in growing conditions, such as temperature, moisture, humidity, light intensity, day length, soil type and geographical location. Thus, the variety may differ in detail depending upon variance in these or other environmental factors.
Independent test plot work was done in Irvine, Oxnard, Santa Maria, and Watsonville, Calif. In these trials, evaluation of the new variety included: yield and yield distribution; fruit size, shape and overall appearance; external and internal fruit color; color and size of plant and plant parts; fruit shelf life; sweetness and fruit flavor; tolerance to disease and rain damage; and plant architecture. The description below is based upon observations of plants which were asexually reproduced by stolons, and were planted outdoors in late April in Macdoel, Calif.
‘Sweet Ann’ is distinguished by its production of large to very large fruit of exceptional flavor, medium skin firmness and medium red to full red external color. Contrast is made to ‘Albion’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,228) and ‘Aromas’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,451), as well as other commercially grown varieties as indicated in the tables below. High productivity, sweetness, and exceptional flavor of the fruit, along with vigorousness of the plant, make this new variety highly competitive in the strawberry industry.
The leaf and fruit color of ‘Sweet Ann’ is readily distinguished from that of other commercially grown strawberry varieties. Table 5 shows the visually observed characteristics of ‘Sweet Ann’ leaf and fruit colors as compared to leaf and fruit color characteristics of ‘Chandler,’ ‘Camarosa,’ ‘Albion,’ and ‘Catalina.’ Color terminology where noted herein is in accordance with the Pantone Color Formula Guide GP 1201.
In Table 6, a comparison of the mid-tier leaf width, mid-tier leaf length, petiole length, and plant height between ‘Sweet Ann’ (‘16F29’) and the varieties ‘Albion’ and ‘Aromas’ is shown.
Tables 7 and 8 show, respectively, a comparison of certain foliar and flower petal characteristics between ‘Sweet Ann’ and the varieties ‘Diamante’ and ‘Aromas.’
Claims
1. A new and distinct strawberry plant named ‘Sweet Ann’ as herein described and illustrated by the characterizations set forth above.
Type: Grant
Filed: Dec 24, 2009
Date of Patent: Jan 31, 2012
Patent Publication Number: 20110162119
Assignee: Lassen Canyson Nursery (Redding, CA)
Inventor: Jimmy Haig Bagdasarian (Santa Cruz, CA)
Primary Examiner: Susan McCormick Ewoldt
Attorney: Catherine Ashley Straight
Application Number: 12/655,174