Thornless Trailing Blackberry
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HORTSCIENCE 45(3):434--436. 2010. a cross made in 1996 of GP 9-24 and 'Waldo'. GP 9-24 is a selection made from a seedling population of R. ursinus that was 'Wild Treasure' Thornless collected as fruit from Mount Hebo (Oregon) in the Siuslaw National Forest at an elevation Trailing Blackberry of961 m. GP 9-24 was originally selected for its larger fruit size relative to other R. ursinus Chad E. Finn! genotypes, low foliar disease incidence, and US. Department ofAgriculture-AgriculturalResearch Service, Horticultural high fruit number per lateral. 'Waldo' is Crops Research Laboratory, 3420 NW Orchard Avenue, Corvallis, a very high-quality thornless blackberry that OR 97330 has excellent foliar disease resistance, medium-large fruit, high yield, and short Bernadine C. Strik internodes that result in a somewhat dwarfed Department ofHorticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 plant with brittle canes (Lawrence, 1989). Selections from this cross had the superior Brian Yorgey and Michael Qian fruit quality and vigorous growth of R. Department ofFood Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 ursinus combined with the good disease tolerance and thornlessness of 'Waldo'. Robert R. Martin US. Department ofAgriculture-AgriculturalResearch Service, Horticultural Description and Performance Crops Research Laboratory, Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research, 'Wild Treasure' has been most exten Corvallis, OR 97330 sively evaluated in trials at Oregon State Mary Peterson University's North Willamette Research and Extension Center (Aurora, OR; OSU US. Department ofAgriculture-AgriculturalResearch Service, Horticultural NWREC), the USDA-ARS in Corvallis, OR Crops Research Laboratory, Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research, as well as at a commercial grower site, Corvallis, OR 97330 Enfield Farms Inc. (Lynden, WA). In each of the Oregon trial plantings, standard cul Additional index words. Rubus ursinus, germplasm, processing, small fruit, fruit breeding tural practices for trailing blackberry pro duction were used, including annual pre- and postemergent herbicide applications, spring 'Wild Treasure' is a new trailing black blends in which large-fruited blackberries are nitrogen fertilization (78 kg N/ha), posthar berry (Rubus subg. Rubus Watson) cultivar out ofproportion to the other components of vest removal offloricanes, training ofprimo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture the mix. 'Wild Treasure' is named to recog canes to a two-wire trellis, and weekly Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) nize its pedigree because it was selected from overhead application of 2.5 to 5.0 cm of breeding program in Corvallis, OR, released a cross between a thornless cultivar and irrigation, depending on rainfall. Dormant in cooperation with Oregon State Univer a selection of the western dewberry, Rubus applications of liquid lime sulfur and copper sity's Agricultural Experiment Station. 'Wild ursinus Cham. et Schlt. hydroxide were made to control leafand cane Treasure' is thornless and has high-quality spot (Septoria rubi), purple blotch [Septocyta fruit that are very small and suitable for Origin ruborum (Lib) Petr.], rust [Kuehneola uredi mechanical harvest (Figs. 1-3). The fruit is nis (Link) Arth.], and anthracnose. They also of particular value for market niches where In 1993 and 1994, an extensive collection received a single bloom time application of small fruit size is perceived as superior. Such of Rubus ursinus germplasm was made captan at labeled rates to control anthracnose, markets include bakery products that use throughout Oregon and Washington. The botrytis (Botrytis cinerea Pers.:Fr.), cane whole berries and in frozen polybag fruit Washington portion of this trip was orga spot, purple blotch, and stamen blight [Hapa nized by James Luby (Univ. of Minnesota, losphaeria deformans (Syd.) Syd.]. The St. Paul, MN) and Richard Harrison (Driscoll cooperating grower in Washington is primar Strawberry Associates, Watsonville, CA). ily a red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) grower. Received for publication 19 Nov. 2009. Accepted for publication 4 Jan. 2010. Numerous seedling and clonal populations Although the plants were spaced and trained This research was partially funded by the Oregon were planted in a common garden in Corval similarly to the Oregon trials, they were Raspberry and Blackberry Commission and from lis for evaluation and a number of selections irrigated and fertilized with nitrogen at rates a grant through the USDA-ARS Northwest Center were made from these populations (Finn, standard for red raspberry but greater than for Small Fruit Research. 2001). Rubus ursinus offers several traits of typical for blackberry. At OSU-NWREC, We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of particular interest to breeders, including out 'Wild Treasure' was planted in 2001, along Connie Pace and Gil Buller in the evaluation of standing flavor and fruit quality, very early with standard cultivars, in a randomized 'Wild Treasure'; Enfield Farms (Lynden, WA), ripening, flexible canes, and good vigor. complete block design with four three-plant particularly Julie Enfield and Derek Peacock (cur Many of the characteristics that have made replications used for fresh fruit evaluation rently with Hurst's Berry Farm) for their evaluation of 'Wild Treasure' in a commercial setting; and 'Marion' blackberry the commercial standard and three replications harvested once a week Nola Mosier for efforts to free the nuclear material for fruit processing, including aromatic flavor to determine harvest season, yield, and fruit ofknown viruses. We thank the U.S. Department of and less noticeable seeds, can be traced back weight (mean ofrandomly selected 25-berry Agriculture-Forest Service for issuing the Tempo to R. ursinus in its pedigree (Yorgey and Finn, subsamples per harvest). A mean weighted rary Special-Use Permit for the collection ofplant 2005). However, R. ursinus in a monoculture fruit weight was calculated. These data, material in the Oregon and Washington National in the Willamette Valley (Oregon) is very collected in 2003-2005, were analyzed as Forests. susceptible to foliar and cane diseases, partic a split plot in time with cultivar as the main Mention oftrade names or commercial products in ularly anthracnose [Elsinoe veneta (Burk plot and year as the subplot. Of the 20 this manuscript is solely for the purpose of pro holder) Jenk.] and septoria (Septoria rubi genotypes harvested from the replicated trial, viding specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. De Westend). This and its dioecious nature make only the data for 'Marion', 'Siskiyou', partment of Agriculture. it difficult to commercialize this species. 'Waldo', and 'Wild Treasure' were included 1To whom reprint requests should be addressed; 'Wild Treasure', tested as ORUS 1843-3, in the analysis. The cultivar x year interaction e-mail [email protected]. was selected in Corvallis, OR, in 1998 from was significant for yield and for fruit weight. 434 HORTSCIENCE VOL. 45(3) MARCH 2010 Treasure' had much higher procyanidin and ellagic acid but comparable ellagitannin and flavonol levels to 'Marion' (Siriwoharn et aI., 2004). 'Wild Treasure' is not likely to be well suited to fresh market because it is not sufficiently firm for handling and shipping significant distances. Its small fruit size may preclude economical hand-harvesting, al though when sold at a premium in farmers' markets, it may be profitable. 'Wild Treasure' is introduced as a very high-quality, very small-fruited blackberry that can be mechanically harvested for the processing market. 'Wild Treasure' has gen erated a great deal ofcommercial interest for Fig. I. Flowering plant of 'Wild Treasure'. specialty small fruit applications and is rec ommended for areas where trailing black ben-ies can be successfully grown. 'Wild Treasure' nuclear stock has tested negative for Tomato ringspot virus, Rasp berry bushy dWGljvirus, and Tobacco streak virus by enzyme-linked immunosorbent as say and has indexed negative on grafting to R. occidentalis. 'Wild Treasure' is not patented. However, when this germplasm contributes to the de velopment ofa new cultivar or gennplasm, it is requested that appropriate recognition be given to the source. Further infonnation or a list of nurseries propagating 'Wild Trea sure' is available on written request to Chad Finn, USDA-ARS, Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research, Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, 3420 NW Orchard Avenue, Corvallis, OR 97330. The USDA Fig. 2. Ripe fruit on plants of 'Wild Treasure'. ARS does not sell plants. In addition, genetic material ofthis release has been deposited in the National Plant Gennplasm System as PI higher but not significantly different from 638265 (CRUB 2237), where it will be avail 'Marion' for aroma, flavor, color, and overall able for research purposes, including devel quality (Yorgey and Finn, 2005). A similar opment and commercialization of new evaluation as an individually quick frozen cultivars. (IQF) product, 'Wild Treasure' was generally ranked poorer than 'Marion', which we att11 Literature Cited bute to a negati ve bias by the panelists against very small fruit. When frozen and thawed as an Finn, C 2001. Trailing blackbelTies: From clear IQF fruit, 'WildTreasure' is intennediate as far cuts to your table. HOliScience 36:236-238. as turning purple after freezing and thawing Kurnianta, A.J. 2005. Descriptive sensory analysis between 'Obsidian', which