US-PP37418-P2 - Fragaria plant named ‘CH67’

Abstract

A new cultivar of Fragaria plant named ‘CH67’ that is characterized by its high marketable yields of fruit that is conical-shaped and very sweet in flavor, its very firm fruit with very good post-harvest shelf life, its plants that have strong vigor, a dense canopy and a semi-upright plant habit, its fruit that is orange red in color with a highly glossy surface, its leaves that are concave in the cross section, and its medium amount of blistering on the foliage.

Inventors

• Graham Clarkson

Assignees

• EDWARD VINSON LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20250829

Priority Date

20241206

Claims (1)

1. 1 . A new and distinct cultivar of Fragaria plant named ‘CH67’ as herein illustrated and described.

Description

Botanical classification: Fragaria x ananassa. Cultivar designation: ‘CH67’. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to European Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) Plant Breeder's Rights Application No. 2024/3044 filed on Dec. 6, 2024, under 35 U.S.C. 119(f), the entire contents of both applications which are incorporated by reference herein. This application is also related to Canadian Plant Breeder's Rights Application No. 25-11907 filed on Jan. 17, 2025. The information for the plant breeders' rights applications was received directly from the Inventor. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Fragaria, botanically known as Fragaria x ananassa, and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name ‘CH67’. ‘CH67’ is an everbearing variety which is primarily adapted to the climate and growing conditions of the United Kingdom and other regions of similar climate. The new cultivar was derived from an ongoing breeding program conducted by the Inventor at a farm in Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom. ‘CH67’ arose from a controlled cross made by the Inventor in 2015 between an unpatented selection from the Inventor's breeding program, designated as accession number ‘FL94’, as the female parent and an unpatented selection from the Inventor's breeding program, designated as accession number ‘EQ221’, as the male parent. ‘CH67’ was selected in Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom as a single unique plant in the summer of 2016 from amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross. Initial selection criteria included fruit number, uniformity of shape and color, fruit size, skin firmness and overall flavor. Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished the Inventor by rooting of stolons in Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom in spring of 2021. Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by rooting stolons and tissue culture using meristematic tissue has shown that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following traits have been repeatedly observed and represent the characteristics of the new cultivar. These attributes in combination distinguish ‘CH67’ as a new and unique cultivar of Fragaria. 1. ‘CH67’ exhibits high marketable yields of fruit that are conical-shaped and very sweet in flavor.2. ‘CH67’ exhibits very firm fruit with very good post-harvest shelf life.3. ‘CH67’ exhibits plants that have strong vigor, a dense canopy and a semi-upright plant habit.4. ‘CH67’ exhibits fruit that is orange red in color with a highly glossy surface.5. ‘CH67’ exhibits leaves that are concave in the cross section.6. ‘CH67’ exhibits a medium amount of blistering on the foliage. The female parent plant, ‘FL94’, differs from ‘CH67’ in fruit that have a smaller size, softer skin firmness, and a much more floral flavor. The male parent plant, ‘EQ221’, differs from ‘CH67’ in having leaves that are more convex in the cross section, fruit that is less even in appearance with raised achenes. ‘CH67’ can be most closely compared to the Fragaria x ananassa cultivar ‘Eves Joy’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 35,911) and ‘Eves Delight 2’ (U.S. Pat. No. 32,418). ‘Eves Joy’ is similar to ‘CH67’ in having early fruit production, fruit that is predominantly conical in shape with a fruit surface that is even and highly glossy, highly sweet flavor with a slight aroma, and achenes that are mostly below the surface with no band, in having leaves that are round in shape with serrate to crenate margins, a low number of stolons with sparse pubescence, a similar number of flowers per truss, and pollen produced in moderate quantity. ‘Eves Joy’ differs from ‘CH67’ in having a higher fruit yield, higher average fruit weight per plant, fruit that bruises more easily, a shorter shelf life, skin and flesh that are less firm, juicer fruit, less achenes, calyxes that are mostly level with the fruit, a less dense foliage canopy that is overall smaller in size, leaves that are larger in size, glossier surfaces, more interveinal blistering, margins that are more serrated, stolons with stronger anthocyanin coloration, longer and more narrow petioles and petiolules, flowers that are beneath the leaf canopy, and more flowers produced. ‘Eves Delight 2’ is similar to ‘CH67’ in having fruit with a highly sweet flavor, moderately juicy, a slight aroma, and a very good post-harvest shelf life. ‘Eves Delight 2’ differs from ‘CH67’ in having fruit that is smaller in size with a less glossy surface, a smaller plant size, a less dense foliage canopy, and typically larger leaves. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying color photographs illustrate the overall appearance and distinct characteristics of the new Fragaria. The photographs were taken of plants 3 months in age (from a rooted module) as grown in coir bags and grown on tabletops under polyethylene covers in Faversham, Kent, Unite