Strawberry plant named ‘Malibu’
The present invention provides a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Malibu’ (a.k.a. ‘109221’).
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Latin name of the genus and species: Fragaria x ananassa.
Varietal denomination: ‘Malibu’ (a.k.a. ‘109221’).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry plant designated as ‘Malibu’ (a.k.a. ‘109221’). ‘Malibu’ is a short-day strawberry plant.
‘Malibu’ (a.k.a. ‘109221’) is the result of a controlled-cross between a female parent cultivar designated 105429 (strawberry plant named ‘Dani’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,533) and a male parent cultivar designated 105218 (strawberry plant named ‘Zarina’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,936) made by the Inventor and was first fruited in Watsonville, Calif. growing fields. Following selection and during testing, the plant was originally designated ‘109221’ and subsequently named ‘Malibu’.
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 new plant were found to be transmissible by such asexual reproduction. This plant is stable and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a new and distinctive strawberry plant designated as ‘Malibu’. This strawberry 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 ‘Malibu’ from known strawberry varieties. In addition, this new strawberry plant was confirmed to be a unique strawberry germplasm when tested against the California Seed & Plant Lab, Inc. (Elverta, Calif.) database 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. The fruit produced by each new cultivar is attractive and of excellent quality.
The accompanying color photographs depict various characteristics of the cultivars as nearly true as possible to make color reproductions.
‘Malibu’ (a.k.a. ‘109221’)
This invention relates to a new and distinctive short-day type strawberry cultivar designated as ‘Malibu’. It 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 in combination distinguish strawberry variety ‘Malibu’ 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.
The detailed botanical description in Table 1 was observed when the plants were 33 weeks after planting. The plants observed were grown in a farm field with an outdoor yield trial plot (without cover) on a polyethylene-film-covered-raised-bed. A grower standard 1.25 mil thickness of polyethylene film was used to cover raised bed. All plants were spaced 14 inches apart. The field having a very sandy soil was located on a commercial strawberry farm, which is near Watsonville, Calif.
‘Malibu’ 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.
When ‘Malibu’ is compared to the proprietary female parent ‘Dani’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,533), the petiole of ‘Malibu’ leaves is thicker than that of ‘Dani’ leaves. ‘Malibu’ produces fruits earlier than ‘Dani’ in the spring season. The flowers of ‘Malibu’ are visible above the canopy, while the flowers of ‘Dani’ are mostly below the canopy.
When ‘Malibu’ is compared to the proprietary male parent ‘Zarina’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,936), ‘Malibu’ is a medium-large sized plant, but ‘Zarina’ is a small-medium sized plant. Fruits of ‘Malibu’ are uniformly smooth and conic, while fruits of ‘Zarina’ are long-conic.
When ‘Malibu’ is compared to the check variety ‘Monterey’ (U.S. Pat. No. 19,767), ‘Malibu’ does not produce runners during the fruit production period, while ‘Monterey’ produces stolons during the fruiting period. The fruit yield of ‘Monterey’ is significantly greater than ‘Malibu’. In addition, fruits of ‘Monterey’ are less uniform than the fruits of ‘Malibu’ that are uniformly conical shaped.
When ‘Malibu’ is compared to the check variety ‘Merced’ (U.S. Pat. No. 25,436), the leaf trifoliate of ‘Malibu’ differs from that of ‘Merced’. ‘Malibu’ foliage allows for relatively more open canopy when compared to ‘Merced’ that has a closed canopy.
Claims
1. A new and distinct cultivar of strawberry plant named ‘Malibu’ substantially as shown and described herein.
Type: Grant
Filed: Jun 28, 2017
Date of Patent: Dec 11, 2018
Assignee: Sweet Darling Sales, Inc. (Aptos, CA)
Inventor: John Larse (Watsonville, CA)
Primary Examiner: Annette H Para
Application Number: 15/731,551
