Strawberry plant named ‘DrisStrawFifteen’

[0001] Genus and species: Fragaria×ananassa.

[0002] Variety denomination: ‘DrisStrawFifteen’.

[0003] The present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry cultivar designated ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ and botanically known as Fragaria×ananassa. This new strawberry cultivar was discovered in Monterey County, Calif. in June 2004 and originated from a cross between the proprietary female parent ‘Driscoll Lanai’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,145) and the proprietary male parent ‘38J181’ (unpatented). The original seedling of the new cultivar was first asexually propagated at a nursery in Shasta County, Calif.

[0004] ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ was subsequently asexually propagated at the McArthur Nursery in Shasta County, Calif. and underwent further testing in Monterey County, Calif. for six years. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations via stolons and tissue culture.

[0011] The following description of ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is based on observations taken in Monterey County, Calif. from 2004 to 2009. This description is in accordance with UPOV terminology. 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. ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The botanical description of ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ was taken from 9½-month-old plants and the botanical descriptions of the comparison varieties, ‘Driscoll Lanai’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,145) and ‘DrisStrawNine’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,733), were taken from 10-month-old plants and from 9-month-old plants, respectively. Color terminology follows The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, London (R.H.S.) (2001).

[0012] Table 1 shows plant characteristics of the new variety compared with plant characteristics of the commercial varieties ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. Plant characteristics include plant height, diameter, number of crowns per plant, habit, the density of individual plants and the vigor.

[0013]

TABLE 1
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Plant height (cm)	20.5	21.9	20.9
Plant diameter	37.1	47.6	32.9
(cm)
Number of	2	5.3	3
crowns/plant
Habit	Flat globose	Flat	Upright
Density of	Open	Open	Medium
individual plant
Vigor	Medium	Medium	Weak

[0014] Table 2 shows leaf characteristics of the new cultivar compared with leaf characteristics of ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. Leaf characteristics include terminal leaflet length and width in centimeters, length to width ratio, number of teeth per terminal leaflet, shape of teeth, color of upper side and underside of leaf, leaf shape in cross section, leaf blistering, leaf glossiness, number of leaflets, terminal leaflet margin, terminal leaflet length to width ratio, overall leaf shape and shape of leaf apex and base.

[0015]

TABLE 2
Leaf
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Terminal leaflet	0.7	8.1	6.8
length (cm)
Terminal leaflet	0.66	7.6	7.2
width (cm)
Terminal leaflet	1.1	1.07	1.0
length/width ratio
No. teeth/	19	23.4	24
terminal leaflet
Shape of teeth	Rounded	Rounded	Rounded
Color of upper	RHS 136A	RHS 139A	RHS 147A
surface of leaf	(Dark green)	(Medium green)	(Dark yellow-
			green)
Color of lower	RHS 147B	RHS 138B	RHS 147B
surface of leaf	(Medium yellow-	(Light green)	(Medium
	green)		yellow-green)
Leaf shape in	Slightly concave	Slightly	Concave
cross section		concave to flat
Leaf blistering	Medium	Medium	Medium
Leaf glossiness	Medium	Weak	Between
			medium
			and strong
No. leaflets	3 only	3 only	3 only
Terminal leaflet	Revolute to flat	Revolute	Flat
margin		to flat
Terminal leaflet	As long as broad		As long as
length/width ratio			broad
Terminal leaflet	Orbicular		Orbicular
shape
Terminal leaflet	Rounded	Rounded	Rounded
base shape
Terminal leaflet	Rounded		Rounded
apex shape

[0016] Table 3 shows information about the petiole, the petiolule, the bract, and the stipule of the new cultivar compared to ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. This includes petiole length in centimeters, petiole diameter in centimeters, petiole pubescence, pose of hairs on the petiole, color of the petiole, color of the petiolule, petiolule length in centimeters, petiolule diameter in centimeters, bract frequency per petiole, stipule length in centimeters, stipule width in centimeters, stipule pubescence and stipule anthocyanin coloration.

[0017]

TABLE 3
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Petiole length (cm)	15.4	18.7	11.2
Petiole diameter	0.279		0.323
(cm)
Petiole pubescence	Medium	Medium	Dense
Petiole pose of	Outwards	Downward	Upwards
hairs
Petiole color	RHS 145A	RHS 145A	RHS 145A
	(Medium	(Yellow-green)	(Medium
	yellow-green)		yellow-green)
Petiolule color	RHS 145A	RHS 145A	RHS 145B
	(Medium	(Yellow-green)	(Medium
	yellow-green)		yellow-green)
Petiolule length	0.616	1.55	0.826
(cm)
Petiolule diameter	0.143	0.32	0.158
(cm)
Stipule length (cm)	3.1	3.7	3.4
Stipule width (cm)	0.891	1.2	0.823
Stipule pubescence	Medium	Medium to	Medium
Stipule	RHS 145D	dense	Absent to
anthocyanin	(Light yellow-		very weak
coloration	green)

[0018] Table 4 shows stolon characteristics of the new cultivar compared to ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. These characteristics include the number of stolons, average number of daughter plants, the anthocyanin coloration of the stolons, the thickness of the stolons, and the pubescence of the stolons.

[0019]

TABLE 4
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Stolon number	Many	Many	Medium
Average number	40	67	35
of daughter plants
Stolon	RHS 59B	RHS 60A	Medium
anthocyanin	(Dark red-purple)	(Dark red-purple)
Stolon thickness	Medium	Medium to thick	Medium
Stolon	Dense	Dense	Sparse
pubescence

[0020] Table 5 shows inflorescence characteristics of the new cultivar compared to ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. These characteristics include inflorescence position relative to foliage, time of flowering, relative flower size, flower diameter in centimeters (measured from petal tip to petal tip), petal shape, relative spacing of petals, petal apex, base and margin, petal length in centimeters, petal width in centimeters, petal length to width ratio, number of petals, petal color, calyx diameter in centimeters (measured on back of flower from sepal tip to sepal tip), diameter of calyx relative to corolla, diameter of inner calyx relative to outer, sepal shape, apex and margin, sepal length in centimeters (measured from sepal tip to point of attachment to receptacle), sepal width in centimeters, number of sepals, receptacle color and anther color.

[0021]

TABLE 5
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Inflorescence	Beneath	Level to above	Above
position relative
to foliage
Time of	Between early
flowering (50%	and medium
of plants at
first flower)
Flower size	Medium		Medium
Flower diameter	2.399	2.58	2.920
(cm)
Petal shape	Orbicular		Orbicular
Petal spacing	Overlapping	Overlapping	Overlapping
Petal apex shape	Rounded		Rounded
Petal margin	Entire		Entire
Petal base shape	Rounded		Concave-
			convex
Petal length	1.310	1.21	1.257
(cm)
Petal width (cm)	1.269	1.29	1.332
Petal length/	As long as broad	As long as	As long as
width ratio		broad	broad
Petal length/	1.0	0.94	0.9
width ratio
Typical and	6		7
observed petal
number
Petal color	RHS 155B	RHS 155C	RHS 155B
(both surfaces)	(White)	(White)	(White)
Calyx diameter	3.036	3.25	3.573
(cm)
Calyx diameter	Larger	Same size	Larger
relative to		to larger
corolla
Inner calyx	Same size	Larger	Same size
diameter
relative to outer
Sepal shape	Oval		Elliptical
Sepal apex	Convex		Convex
shape
Sepal margin	Entire		Entire
Sepal length	1.176	1.480	1.318
(cm)
Sepal width	0.673	0.767	0.647
(cm)
Typical and	13		14
observed sepal
number
Receptacle	RHS 2A		RHS 2B
color	(Medium yellow)		(Medium
			yellow)
Anther color	RHS 174A		RHS 22A
	(Dark greyed-		(Medium
	orange)		yellow-
			orange)

[0022] Table 6 shows fruit characteristics of the new cultivar compared to ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. These characteristics include fruiting truss length in centimeters, fruiting truss diameter, number of berries per truss, fruiting truss attitude, fruiting truss color, fruit length in centimeters, fruit truss width in centimeters, fruit length to width ratio, fruit hollow length and width in centimeters, fruit hollow length to width ratio, fruit weight in grams, relative fruit size, predominant fruit shape, difference in shape between primary and secondary fruits, band without achenes, unevenness of fruit surface, fruit skin color, evenness of fruit color, fruit glossiness, insertion of achenes, achene coloration (sunward and shaded sides of berry) and the number of achenes per berry.

[0023]

TABLE 6
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Fruiting truss	19.4	30.0	16.9
length (cm)
Fruiting truss	Between medium
length (general)	and long
Fruiting truss	0.361		0.512
diameter (cm) at
base of truss
Number of berries	5		4
per fruiting truss
Fruiting truss	Prostrate	Prostrate	Semi-erect
attitude
Fruiting truss	RHS N144C		RHS 144A
color at base	(Medium yellow-		(Medium
of truss	green)		yellow-green)
Fruit length (cm)	3.666	4.5	4.274
Fruit width (cm)	3.492	3.8	4.222
Fruit length/width	1.0	1.19	1.0
ratio
Fruit hollow	1.017		1.341
length (cm)
Fruit hollow width	0.442		1.023
(cm)
Fruit hollow	2.3		1.3
length/width ratio
Fruit weight (g)	21.6	23.3	23.1
Fruit ratio of	As long as broad		As long as
length/maximum			broad
width
Relative fruit size	Medium		Medium
Predominant fruit	Conical	Conical to	Conical
shape		ovoid
Difference in	Between slight and	Slight	Slight
shape between	moderate
primary and
secondary fruits
Band without	Narrow	Narrow to	Narrow
achenes		medium
Unevenness of	Weak	Weak	Weak
fruit surface
Fruit skin color	RHS 46A	RHS 45B	RHS 46A
	(Dark red)	(Orange red)	(Dark red)
Evenness of fruit	Even	Even	Even
color
Fruit glossiness	Medium	Strong	Medium
Insertion of	Below surface	Level with	Level with
achenes		surface	surface
Achene coloration	RHS 175A	RHS 185B to	RHS 184A
(sunward side of	(Dark greyed-	RHS 154B	(Dark greyed-
berry)	orange)	(Gray purple to	purple)
		yellow-green)
Achene coloration	RHS N144A	RHS 185B to	RHS 153B
(shaded side of	(Medium yellow-	RHS 154B	(Medium
berry)	green)	(Gray purple to	yellow-green)
		yellow-green)
Achenes per berry	324.0	300	320

[0024] Table 7 shows fruit characteristics of the new cultivar compared to ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’. These characteristics include the harvest maturity, insertion of calyx, pose of calyx segments, size of calyx in relation to fruit, adherence of calyx, firmness of flesh, color of the fruit flesh, evenness of the flesh color, distribution of flesh color, hollow center, sweetness of fruit, acidity of fruit, texture of fruit when tasted, type of bearing, grams of fruit per plant.

[0025]

TABLE 7
Characteristic	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Harvest interval	Late March to	Late March to	Late March to
	early November	early November	early November
Harvest maturity	Between early
	and mid-season
Insertion of calyx	Set above fruit	Level	Level
Pose of calyx	Spreading	Spreading to	Spreading
segments		reflexed
Size of calyx in	Smaller and	Smaller	Larger
relation to fruit	larger
Adherence of calyx	Strong	Strong	Strong
Firmness of flesh	Firm	Medium	Medium
Color of the flesh	RHS N155B	RHS 47C	RHS 155C
	(White) and	(Orange-red)	(White) and
	RHS 46B		RHS 41A
	(Dark red)		(Medium red)
Evenness of flesh	Slightly uneven	Uneven	Uneven
color
Distribution of	Marginal and	Marginal and	Marginal and
flesh color	central	central	central
Hollow center	Small	Medium	Small
Sweetness	Strong	Medium	Medium
Acidity	Medium	Medium	Medium
Texture when	Medium	Fine	Medium
tasted
Type of bearing	Fully everbearing	Partially	Fully
		everbearing	everbearing
Grams of	1,513	1,679	1,505
fruit/plant

[0026] Table 8 shows pest, stress and disease characteristics of the new cultivar compared to ‘Driscoll Lanai’ and ‘DrisStrawNine’.

[0027]

TABLE 8
Pest, Stress, or
Disease	‘DrisStrawFifteen’	‘Driscoll Lanai’	‘DrisStrawNine’
Tetranychus urticae	Moderately	Susceptible	Moderately
	susceptible		susceptible
Botrytis fruit rot	Moderately	Susceptible	Susceptible
	susceptible
Powdery mildew	Moderately	Susceptible	Between
	susceptible		moderately
			susceptible and
			susceptible
Verticillium wilt	Moderately	Moderately	Susceptible
	resistant	resistant
Rain	Between
	moderately
	resistant
	and moderately
	susceptible

[0028] When ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is compared to the proprietary female parent ‘Driscoll Lanai’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,145), ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is fully everbearing while ‘Driscoll Lanai’ is partially everbearing. In addition, ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ has a strong sweetness of fruit while ‘Driscoll Lanai’ has a medium sweetness of fruit. Finally, ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ has smaller fruit size (length: 3.666 cm; width: 3.492 cm) than ‘Driscoll Lanai’ (length: 4.5 cm; width: 3.8 cm).

[0029] When ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is compared to the proprietary male parent ‘38J181’ (unpatented), ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ has larger fruit and is more prone to bruising during handling than ‘38J181’.

[0030] When ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is compared to the commercial variety ‘DrisStrawNine’, the petiole pose of hairs for ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is outwards while the petiole pose of hairs for ‘DrisStrawNine’ is downward. In addition, ‘DrisStrawFifteen’ is moderately resistant to Verticillium wilt while ‘DrisStrawNine’ is susceptible to Verticillium wilt.