Plants – Rose – Climber
Plant Patent
1999-09-09
2001-10-23
Campell, Bruce R. (Department: 1661)
Plants
Rose
Climber
Plant Patent
active
PP012165
ABSTRACT:
ORIGIN OF THE VARIETY
‘Emerald’ originated as a seedling from the cross, FL91-69 (unpatented)×NC1528 (unpatented), made in a greenhouse at the University of Florida in Gainesville in March 1991. FL91-69 was a seedling selected from the Florida blueberry-breeding program. It was never named or released as a cultivar because it did not have the combination of plant and berry characteristics needed for commercial blueberry production. In particular, its berries were smaller, darker, and softer than those of ‘Emerald’. NC 1528 was a blueberry selection from the North Carolina State University blueberry-breeding program at Castle Hayne, N.C. Unlike ‘Emerald’, NC 1528 had a high chilling requirement and could not be grown successfully in Florida. It was never named or released as a cultivar. The seedling that gave rise to ‘Emerald’ was transplanted along with 10,000 other hybrid seedlings into a high-density field evaluation nursery in Gainesville in May 1992. In May 1993 the plant fruited for the first time and was among 500 seedlings saved for further evaluation. Based on its growth and fruiting performance in the field in the springs of 1994 and 1995 it was selected for propagation in May 1995. Ten plants were propagated from softwood cuttings and planted along with 100 other clones in field evaluation plots in Windsor, Fla. (latitude 29.7 north, longitude 82.2 west, elevation 100 feet). The original seedling was evaluated for 4 fruiting seasons in Gainesville, and the propagated plot was examined during the fruiting seasons of 1997, 1998, and 1999. One thousand plants were propagated by cuttings in the summer of 1998 and were transplanted to a test field at Archer in north-central Florida in December 1998.
ASEXUAL PROPAGATION OF THE VARIETY
More than 1000 plants of the variety have been propagated by softwood cuttings, and the resulting plants have manifested the varietal characteristics without exception.
SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY
‘Emerald’ appears to combine the high bush vigor, low chilling requirement, early ripening season, high yield potential, and high berry quality that is necessary for a successful commercial blueberry variety in north and central Florida. ‘Emerald’ is tetraploid with 2N=4X=48 somatic chromosomes. ‘Emerald’ plants have been hand pollinated and used as a pollen source for hand pollination of numerous other tetraploid southern highbush blueberry selections and varieties and has been highly fertile in all crosses. Although ‘Emerald’ is more self-compatible than most other Florida southern highbush blueberry varieties and produces a considerable amount of fruit when self pollinated, the variety produces more fruit, ripens earlier, and has larger berries if cross pollinated with another southern highbush variety. ‘Emerald’ breaks both vegetative and flower buds early in the spring even after unusually mild winters in Gainsville, Fla. Although there is increasing risk of fruit loss to spring freezes as the variety is planted in colder areas, ‘Emerald’ could probably be grown commercially in areas as cold as southeast Georgia and along the Gulf Coast to southeast Texas with occasional crop losses due to freezes. The ripening season of ‘Emerald’ in north and central Florida, late April and early May, is normally a period of low rainfall and low humidity in the southeastern United States, which facilitates harvest, and is also a period when fresh blueberry supplies are at a minimum and prices are highest. ‘Emerald’ has the following unique combination of features:
1. Produces a vigorous, upright plant with high yield potential.
2. Flowers and produces new spring vegetation vigorously in Florida in areas where the mean January temperature is 62° F. or colder.
3. Produces fruit that are large, firm, have a good picking scar, and a good flavor.
4. Can readily be propagated by softwood cuttings under mist.
5. Ripens 80% of its fruit between April 15 and May 10 in north-central Florida.
6. Ripens its fruit 60 days after flowering in north-central Florida.
7. Has moderate to high resistance to phytophthora root rot, botryosphaeria stem blight, botryosphaeria cane canker, and the leaf diseases that are common on blueberries in Florida.
Campell Bruce R.
Hwu June
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