Strawberry plant named ‘Driscoll Malibu’

[0001] Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: The variety is botanically identified as Fragaria×ananassa.

[0002] The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants ‘Marathon’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,817) and ‘Sonora’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,386) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered as a seedling in Hillsborough Country, Fla. in 1998. The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated by stolons in a Shasta County, Calif. Propagules were transplanted to a controlled breeding plot in Hillsborough County, Fla., where the variety was identified and selected for further evaluation. ‘Driscoll Malibu’ was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing in Hillsborough Country, Fla. for three years. This propagation and testing has demonstrated that the combination of traits disclosed herein which characterize the new variety are fixed and retained true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction.

[0003] The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Driscoll Malibu’. The new variety is distinguished from other varieties by a number of characteristics as set forth in Tables 1-4.

[0004] The varieties which we believe to be similar to ‘Driscoll Malibu’ from those known to us are ‘Biscayne’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,186) and ‘Madeira’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,109). There are several characteristics of the new variety that are different from, or not possessed by ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Madeira’. The new variety is distinguished from ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Madeira’ by having, for example, a flat terminal leaflet margin profile, dense petiole pubescence, 20% of plants with single bracts, a very narrow band without achenes on the fruit, and a small hollow fruit center.

[0011] The following detailed description of the new variety is based upon observations taken of plants and fruit grown in Hillsborough Country, Fla., U.S.A. This description is in accordance with UPOV terminology. Observations of ‘Driscoll Malibu’, ‘Biscayne’, and ‘Madeira’ were taken in side-by-side comparison in 2002-2003. 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. Colors are described and the most similar color designations are provided from The Royal Horticultural Society (R.H.S.) Colour Chart.

[0012] The new variety is principally propagated by way of stolons. Although propagation by stolons is presently preferred, other known methods of propagating strawberry plants may be employed.

[0013] Information on the new variety is presented in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4. In the tables, the flowers described are secondary flowers except where indicated. The fruit described is the secondary fruit on one-year-old plants. Fruit and flower measurements are an average of both primary and secondary fruit and flowers. Flowers of ‘Driscoll Malibu’ are fully self-fertile and typical of the species. The average size of the hollow fruit center of ‘Driscoll Malibu’ is 8.0 mm. ‘Driscoll Malibu’ differs from its maternal parent ‘Marathon’ by possessing darker red fruit and having superior shelf-life. Plants of ‘Driscoll Malibu’ are less vigorous and more compact than those of ‘Marathon.’ ‘Driscoll Malibu’ differs from its paternal parent ‘Sonora’ by being partially everbearing, while ‘Sonora’ is fully everbearing. In addition, the fruit of ‘Driscoll Malibu’ is brighter red than those of ‘Sonora.’

[0014] Table 1 provides information on the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety ‘Driscoll Malibu’ compared with characteristics of ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Madeira’. Table 2 provides additional information of the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety ‘Driscoll Malibu’ compared with characteristics of the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Madeira’. Table 3 provides reactions of the new variety to pests and diseases compared with reactions of the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Madeira’. Table 4 provides isozyme characteristics of the new variety as compared to that of the varieties ‘Biscayne’ and ‘Madeira’.

[0015]

TABLE 1
QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL MALIBU’,
‘BISCAYNE’, AND ‘MADEIRA’
	‘DRISCOLL
	MALIBU’	‘BISCAYNE’	‘MADEIRA’
Plant Characteristics
Height of Plant (cm)	13.6	13.5	15.8
Spread of Plant (cm)	34.1	32.6	36.1
Number of Crowns	3.9	5.2	4.2
Leaf Characteristics
Terminal Leaflet Length	8.7	8.6	9.4
(cm)
Terminal Leaflet Width	8.8	8.8	8.4
(cm)
Terminal Leaflet Length/	0.99	0.98	1.12
Width Ratio
# Teeth/Terminal Leaflet	20.1	23.8	18.8
Color of upper side	141A	137A	147A
	light to	light green	dark green
	medium green
Color of under side	139C	139C	137B
	light gray	light gray	light gray
	green	green	green
Petiole Length (cm)	11.4	11.7	11.0
Petiole Color	144B	141D	144B
	yellow-green	yellow-green	yellow-green
Bract Frequency	20%	60%	80%
	typically	typically	typically
	single	double	double
Stipule Length (cm)	3.8	3.5	3.2
Stipule Width (cm)	2.0	1.9	2.2
Stolon Characteristics
Anthocyanin color	58A	59B	59C
	red purple	red purple	red purple
Diameter at bract (mm)	3.35	3.29	2.77
Avg. # of Daughter	46	59	59
plants/Mother (2002
Nursery)
Flower Characteristics
Petal Length (cm)	1.3	1.4	1.4
Petal Width (cm)	1.4	1.6	1.5
Petal Length/Width Ratio	0.94	0.85	0.91
Flower Diameter (cm)	3.2	3.5	3.3
Calyx Diameter (cm)	4.1	4.6	4.1
Petal Color	155C	155C	155C
	white	white	white
Fruiting Truss Length	13.3	12.5	12.0
(cm)
Fruit Characteristics
Fruit Length (cm)	4.8	4.9	5.0
Fruit Width (cm)	3.8	4.1	4.3
Fruit Length/Width Ratio	1.28	1.20	1.18
Average Berry Weight	23.4	24.7	24.3
(g)
External Color	46B	46B	46A
	red	red	dark red
Internal Color	48C	44A	43A
	orange red	medium red	medium red
2002-2003 Yield (g/	199	143	247
plant)

[0016]

TABLE 2
QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF ‘DRISCOLL MALIBU’,
‘BISCAYNE’, AND ‘MADEIRA’
	‘DRISCOLL
	MALIBU’	‘BISCAYNE’	‘MADEIRA’
Plant
Habit	globose	flat globose	flat globose
Density	medium	medium	medium
Vigor	weak to	strong	strong
	medium
Leaf
Shape in cross section	slightly	concave	concave
	concave to
	flat
Interveinal blistering	medium	weak	medium
Glossiness	weak	medium	medium
Number of leaflets	three only	three only	three only
Terminal leaflet margin	flat	revolute	revolute
profile
Terminal leaflet shape of	rounded	rounded	obtuse
base
Terminal leaflet shape of	obtuse to	rounded	rounded
teeth	rounded
Stipule pubescence	medium	medium	medium
Petiole pubescence	dense	medium	medium
Petiole pose of hairs	downwards	outwards	downwards
Stolon
Amount	medium	many	many
Anthocyanin coloration	medium to	strong	strong to
	strong		very strong
Thickness	medium to	medium	medium to
	thick		thick
Pubescence	medium	medium	medium
Inflorescence
Position relative to foliage	level to	level	beneath
	above
Diameter of calyx relative	larger	larger	larger
to corolla on secondary
flowers
Diameter of inner calyx	larger	same size	same size
relative to outer on
secondary flowers
Spacing of petals	overlapping	overlapping	overlapping
Fruiting Truss
Attitude at first picking	prostrate	prostrate	prostrate
Fruit
Predominant shape	conical	conical	conical
Difference in shapes	slight	slight	slight
between primary and
secondary fruits
Band without achenes	very narrow	narrow	narrow
Unevenness of surface	medium	weak	weak
Evenness of color uneven	slightly	even	even
	uneven
Glossiness	strong	strong	strong
Insertion of achenes	below to	level with	level with
	level with	surface	surface
	the surface
Insertion of calyx	level	level	level
Pose of the calyx segments	reflexed	spreading	reflexed
Size of calyx in relation to	same size to	larger	smaller
fruit on secondary fruit	larger
Adherence of calyx	strong	strong	strong
Firmness of flesh	soft to	firm	medium
	medium
Evenness of flesh color	slightly	slightly uneven	slightly
	uneven		uneven
Distribution of flesh color	marginal and	marginal and	marginal and
	central	central	central
Hollow center size	small	large	medium
Sweetness	medium	strong	weak to
			medium
Texture when tasted	medium	fine	fine
Acidity	medium	medium	weak to
			medium
Time of Flowering	very early	early	very early
Harvest Interval in	late	early December	late
2002-2003	November	through late	November
	through late	March	through late
	March		March
Type of Bearing	partially	partially	partially
	evebearing	everbearing	everbearing

[0017]

TABLE 3
REACTIONS TO PESTS AND DISEASES FOR ‘DRISCOLL MALIBU’,
‘BISCAYNE’, AND ‘MADEIRA’
	‘DRISCOLL
	MALIBU’	‘BISCAYNE’	‘MADEIRA’
Reaction to Pests
Tetranychus urticae	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Lygus hesperus	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Reaction To Diseases
Botrytis fruit rot	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Powdery mildew	moderately	moderately	moderately
	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible
Verticillium wilt	highly	susceptible	moderately
	susceptible		susceptible
Strawberry Mottle Virus	susceptible	susceptible	partially
			resistant
Xanthomonas fragariae	moderately	moderately	moderately
	susceptible	susceptible	susceptible

[0018] In addition to the morphological description above, the new cultivar ‘Driscoll Malibu’ has been analyzed to obtain an indication of its genetic makeup to provide further means for identifying the new variety and distinguishing it from other somewhat similar and/or related strawberry varieties. Specifically, leaf samples of ‘Driscoll Malibu’, ‘Biscayne’, and ‘Madeira’ were analyzed by electrophoresis for isozyme patterns of the enzymes phosphoglucoisomerase (“PGI”), leucine aminopeptidase (“LAP”) and phosphoglucomutase (“PGM”). See J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 106:684-687. Isozyme characterization of the three varieties is presented in Table 4, with the letters representing the banding patterns for each enzyme as designated in the above-identified article.

[0019]

TABLE 4
ISOZYME ANALYSIS FOR ‘DRISCOLL MALIBU’, ‘BISCAYNE’,
AND ‘MADEIRA’
		‘DRISCOLL
	Locus	MALIBU’	‘BISCAYNE’	‘MADEIRA’
	PGI	A1	A1	A1
	LAP	B3	B3	B1
	PGM	C4	C4	C2