Strawberry plant named ‘NCS 10-038’

Abstract

A new and distinct variety of commercial strawberry plant (Fragaria x ananassa Duchense) named NCS 10-038 substantially as illustrated and described, characterized by its very high yields, mid-season (peak harvest weeks 15-18) fruit ripening with the fruit having a medium size, good flavor, conical to wedge shape, and being of a good quality with very good flesh firmness and good skin toughness. NCS 10-038 has fair to good firmness and is suitable for pick your own and local sales.

Claims

1. A new and distinct variety of Fragaria x ananassa Duch. plant named NCS 10-038, substantially as described and illustrated herein.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying photographs show typical specimens of NCS10-038. The photographs were taken in Clayton, N.C.

(2) FIG. 1 shows whole 8-month old plants of NCS 10-038 including leaves, inflorescences and fruit at varying stages of ripeness.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a close up of a single 8 month old plant of NCS 10-038 showing leaves, inflorescences and fruit at varying stages of ripeness.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a close-up of fruit of NCS 10-038, sliced and whole. The designation of 038 in FIG. 3 is an abbreviation for the claimed plant, NCS 10-038.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

(5) The following is a detailed description of a new distinct strawberry variety known as NCS 10-038. The description is based on observations taken from the 2014-2017 growing seasons in the two piedmont locations of Clayton and Salisbury, N.C. Each year the plants are set in the fall and fruiting occurs in the following spring. This description is in accordance with International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) terminology. Color designations and descriptions and other phenotypical traits may deviate from the stated values depending on location and season as this genotype has not been observed in all environmental conditions. Color terminologies are based on The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, London (R.H.S.) (5.sup.th Edition. 2007). Plant: Average height.29.3 cm. Average width.19 cm. Canopy density.Moderate. Growth habit.Semi erect to erect. Number of crowns/plant.5-13. At peak production, the plant will have multiple crowns. Each crown will produce one truss and each truss will have several fruit. Vigor.Moderate. Leaf: Overall.Pinnately compound with 3 leaflets. Mean length including petiole.301 mm. Mean width.178 mm. Terminal leaflet: Upper leaf surface color.137B. Lower leaf surface color.138B. Terminal leaflet length.87 mm. Terminal leaflet width.88 mm. Length to width ratio.0.99. Shape in cross section.Concave. Leaflet shape.Obovate. Terminal leaflet serration number.18. Terminal leaflet margin profile.Obtuse. Terminal leaflet shape of base.Acute cuneate. Terminal leaflet shape of serrations.Pointed. Interveinal blistering.Moderate. Pubescence density of leaves, lower surface.Sparse. Leaf glossiness.Semi-glossy. Venation pattern.Pinnate. Petiole.Petiole length 23.1 mm. Petiole diameter 2.3 mm. Pubescence density of petiole Moderate. Petiole pose of hairs Perpendicular. Petiole color 144C. Anthocyanin Present. Petiolule.Length terminal 3.5 mm, lateral 2.0 mm, diameter 1.2 mm. Color 144C. Stipule.Stipule length 28.0 mm. Stipule width 8.5 mm. Stipule color 145B. Stipule pubescence Yes. Anthocyanin No. Bract pair or single Mostly single, occasionally paired. Secondary leaflets: Color upper surface.137B. Color lower surface.138B. Secondary leaflet length.85 mm. Secondary leaflet width.86 mm. Length to width ratio.0.98. Shape in cross section.Concave. Leaflet shape.Obovate. Secondary leaflet margin profile.Obtuse. Secondary leaflet shape of base.Oblique. Secondary leaflet shape of serrations.Pointed. Pubescence density.Leaves, lower surface Sparse. Number of leaflet serrations.17. Leaf glossiness.Semi-gloss. Texture.Moderately smooth. Venation pattern.Pinnate. Stolons: Number of daughter plants.25-40 depending on environmental conditions. Anthocyanin.Variable, absent to moderate. Thickness.3 mm. Pubescence.Very sparse nearly glabrous. Inflorescence: Time of flowering.Short day flowering habit. Position relative to canopy.At or below canopy. Branching of the inflorescence.At or close to crown. Number of flowers/inflorescence.6. Relative flower size.Medium. Relative calyx size to corolla.< to =. Inflorescence attitude at harvest.Mostly decumbent. Inflorescence length.20 cm. Flower diameter.39.4 mm. Calyx diameter.40 mm. Blossom longevity.1-2 days. Number of stamens.Average of 30. Anther color.13A to 16A. Filament color.150C. Style color.150A. Stigma color.2D. Petals.Petal length 14.9 mm. Petal width 14.5 mm. Petal size ratio 1.02. Petals/flower 5. Petal color 155D. Corolla diameter 40 mm. Flower shape Orbicular. Number flowers/inflorescence 3-6. Petal spacing Even to overlapping. Sepals.Sepal number 11. Sepal color 137A. Sepal length 16.2 mm. Sepal width 7.85 mm. Sepal attitude outward, some upward. Calyx.Calyx color 137A. Corolla diameter 39.3 mm. Calyx size compared to fruit > or =. Calyx attachment level. Pedicels.Pedicel Color 145A. Pubescence low. Mean length of the pedicel attached to the primary fruit 55 mm. Fruit: Fruit fragrance.Moderate. Flavor.Moderate flavor. Fruit skin color.53A. Fruit flesh color.47A. Evenness of color.Outside skin even, inside from 47A in the apex to NN155C in the center near the calyx. Flesh and skin firmness at full ripe stage.Moderately firm (See Table 3). Rain damage.Minimal. Fruit size average.16.4-17.5 g. Fruit shape.Conical to slight wedge. Fruit length.41.1 mm. Fruit width.34.8 mm. Fruit length to width ratio.1.18. Fruit skin glossiness.Glossy. Fruit calyx orientation.Flat to slight rise. Band without achenes.None. Center cavity size.None or very small 2-3 mm. Unevenness of surface.Even. Disease resistance.Susceptible to grey mold (Botrytis cinerea) and anthracnose fruit rot (Colletotrichum acutatum). Seeds: Achene color.151A to 53A, achene color individually present depending on location on the fruit. Achene attachment.Even with surface. Achene shape.Oval.

(6) Preferred planting date is about 25 September in Salisbury, N.C. and October 5 in Clayton, N.C. Nursery performance has been fair in western NC locations due to moderate production of many runners that produce multiple daughter plants that root easily.

(7) The technical (pomological) descriptive data comparing yield of NCS 10-038 to that of Sweet Charlie (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,729), Camarosa (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,708) and Chandler (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,262) in Salisbury, N.C. and in Clayton, N.C. is presented in Tables 1-2. The post-harvest storage life attributes comparing NCS 10-038 to Camarosa and Chandler as well as NCS10-156 are presented in Tables 3-4. This data was previously published in part in Perkins-Veazie, P., J. Pattison, G. E. Fernandez and G. Ma. 2016. Fruit Quality and Composition of Two Advanced North Carolina Strawberry Selections. Intl. J. Fruit Science. 16:(Sup 1): 220-227).

(8) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Piedmont Research Station, Salisbury NC. 2015-16 Total yield, marketable yield, percent marketable yield and average berry weight. Total Total Marketable Marketable Yield Yield Yield Yield Genotype (g/plant) (lbs/A) (g/plant) (lbs/A) NCS 931 35749 771 29605 10-038 NCS 697 26757 586 22484 10-156* Camarosa 637 24431 550 21107 Chandler 665 25505 505 19389 Sweet 488 18712 406 15592 Charlie Percentage Marketable Marketable Average Yield Percent Berry Genotype (% of total) of Chandler weight (g) NCS 10- 82.8 153 16.4 038 NCS 84.0 116 18.9 10-156* Camarosa 86.4 109 21.7 Chandler 76.0 100 16.9 Sweet 83.3 80 17.3 Charlie *NCS 10-156 is co-pending Plant Pat. Application No. 16/602,017

(9) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Central Crops Research Station, Clayton, NC 2015-16 Total yield, marketable yield, percent marketable yield and average berry weight. Total Total Marketable Marketable Yield Yield Yield Yield Genotype (g/plant) (lbs/A) (g/plant) (lbs/A) NCS 785 30131 712 27309 10-038 Camarosa 668 25619 607 23290 Chandler 669 25690 539 20698 NCS 558 21400 485 18603 10-156* Sweet 337 12941 306 11725 Charlie Percentage Marketable Marketable Average Yield Percent Berry Genotype (% of total) of Chandler weight (g) NCS 90.6 132 17.5 10-038 Camarosa 90.9 113 18.2 Chandler 80.6 100 19.8 NCS 86.9 90 14.6 10-156* Sweet 90.6 57 14.2 Charlie *NCS 10-156 is co-pending Plant Pat. Application No. 16/602,017

(10) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Subjective ratings of strawberry fruit held at 4 C for 8 days averaged for 2014 and 2015 seasons.sup.z. Berries Overall Fruit Fruit with appear- Fruit dark- Calyx Calyx firm- mold Selection ance.sup.y shrivel ness brown shrivel ness (%) Camarosa 3.8a 3.9ab 3.7bc 3.8a 3.6a 4.3a 3.1a Chandler 4.0a 4.3a 3.8b 3.9a 3.8a 3.2b 4.6ab NCS 4.0a 4.4a 4.2a 3.4a 3.6a 3.8b 6.1ab 10-038 NCS 3.3b 3.3b 3.2c 3.0b 3.0a 2.2c 12.3b 10-156 .sup.zAll fruit quality attributes were given subjective ratings of 1 to 5 where a higher number indicates better fruit quality. Berries with mold was determined by 100% (no. berries with mold/total no. berries). .sup.yMeans within column with same letter indicate no significant difference using Tukey's HSD, p < 0.05.

(11) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Fruit composition of fully ripe freshly harvested strawberry selections grown in Salisbury, NC in 2014 and 2015.sup.z. Total Total Titratable antho- phenolic acidity cyanin content (TA) (% (mg (mg SSC as citric SSC/ P3G/100 GA/ Selection (%) pH acid) TA g fwt).sup.y 100 g) Day 0 Camarosa 7.1b 3.82a 0.69b 10.6ab 41.27a 155.62a Chandler 6.8b 3.71b 0.69b 10.0ab 48.55a 157.57a NCS 10-038 7.1b 3.67b 0.75a 9.8b 28.87b 142.05b NCS 10-156 7.8a 3.78a 0.72ab 11.0a 33.95ab 152.23a Day 8 Camarosa 7.6b 3.97a 0.64b 12.1a 51.52a 152.16bc Chandler 7.6b 3.87b 0.66b 11.6a 45.39ab 158.50a NCS 10-038 6.9c 3.81b 0.68b 10.2b 29.86c 147.59c NCS 10-156 8.7a 3.87b 0.77a 11.6a 37.04b 153.21b .sup.zEach selection consists of a mean of 3 to 7 samples, representing 3 harvest dates per year. Means within column with same letter indicate no significant difference using Tukey's HSD, p < 0.05. yP3G and GA are pelargonidin 3-glucoside and gallic acid equivalents, respectively.