Raspberry plant named ‘Driscoll Dulcita’

[0002] The new cultivar of raspberry plant was developed from the hybridization of the selection ‘Gloria’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,067) as the seed parent with the selection ‘N257.1’ (an unpatented variety) as the pollen parent. The parents were crossed in 1994, whereafter fruit and seed were collected to produce seedlings for field planting in Watsonville, Calif. in 1994. The new cultivar was selected from these seedlings in 1995 for its excellent fruit firmness, fruit structure, and flavor. The new cultivar has been asexually propagated by in vitro shoot tip culture, root sucker division and root cuttings at the Cassin Ranch in Santa Cruz county, Calif. and has been shown to maintain the desired and distinguishing characteristics after propagation over several generations.

[0003] The present invention provides a new and distinct cultivar of red raspberry plant named ‘Dulcita’. The cultivar is botanically identified as Rubus idaeusL. The ‘Dulcita’ red raspberry plant produces a primocane crop which begins in mid to late July and continues until mid-October. The floricane crop begins in late May and continues until late July. Both the primocane and floricane yields are high relative to other comparable varieties. The fruit of ‘Dulcita’ is notably quite firm and very consistent with regard to its size and shape throughout its harvest period. The flavor is sweet and the fruit of ‘Dulcita’ separates easily from its receptacle.

[0004] The accompanying photographs show typical specimens of the primocane fruit, leaves and shoot of the new cultivar, in color as nearly true as it is reasonably possible to make in color illustrations of these characteristics.

[0005] FIG. 1 is a photograph of ‘Dulcita’ primocane fruit in various stages of development.

[0006] FIG. 2 is a photograph of ‘Dulcita’ primocane leaves showing upper and lower surfaces.

[0007] FIG. 3 is a photograph of ‘Dulcita’ primocane shoot.

[0008] The following detailed description of the new raspberry cultivar, ‘Dulcita’ is based upon observations taken of plants and fruit grown in Watsonville, Calif. between 2001 and 2002, and is believed to apply to plants of the ‘Dulcita’ cultivar grown in similar conditions of soil and climate elsewhere.

[0009] Throughout this specification, color names beginning with a small letter signify that the name of the color, as used in common speech, is aptly descriptive. Color data followed by an alphanumeric code designates the color according to The R.H.S. Colour Chart published by The Royal Horticultural Society of London, England. 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.

[0010] Table 1 provides information on the plant and fruit characteristics of the new cultivar ‘Dulcita’ compared with characteristics of the unpatented raspberry cultivar ‘Heritage’. Observations of the cultivars were taken under similar conditions.

[0011] The new variety is particularly characterized and distinguished from other cultivars by its fruit firmness, fruit structure, good flavor and yield.

[0012] The fruit color of ‘Dulcita’ is a medium red at harvest but darkens after harvest to a deeper color. Fruit of ‘Dulcita’ separates easily from the receptacle and is of excellent firmness at harvest. The fruit of ‘Dulcita’ is very consistent in size and shape throughout the harvest period with good flavor.

[0013] The floricane yields of ‘Dulcita’ are high relative to the variety ‘Heritage’. ‘Dulcita’ is distinguishable from its pollen parent, selection ‘N257.1’, by producing a higher yield of fruit. The new cultivar is distinguished from its seed parent, selection ‘Gloria’, by having larger fruit with better flavor.

[0014] Resistance is unknown to powdery mildew. Cold tolerance of the new cultivar has not been established. Post harvest fruit rot resistance is good in comparison over many selections and varieties.

[0015] Distinctive patterns of polymorphism can be detected using a variety of nucleic acid analysis methods. In one non-limiting example, molecular genetic maps can be produced using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) (Williams et al., 1990, “DNA polymorphisms amplified by arbitrary primers are useful as genetic markers”, Nucleic Acids Res. 18(22):6531-5). Using a variety of oligonucleotide primers, alone or in combination, RAPD analysis of Dulcita and Heritage yielded DNA fragment patterns that uniquely distinguish each of these genetically distinct genotypes.