Patent Grant
PP34976
Latin name of the genus, and species:
Genus—Vaccinium.
Species—corymbosum hybrid.
Variety denomination: The new blueberry plant claimed is of the variety denominated ‘C12-069’.
The new variety ‘C12-069’ was selected from a population of seedlings derived from crossing the blueberry varieties known as ‘FL98-325’ (seed parent) (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 26,523) and the variety known as ‘FL01-271’ (unpatented pollen parent). The cross was made in 2006 in Florida, USA and the seed was sown and grown in Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia. The new variety was selected in 2012 from among plants located on land at Corindi Beach and assigned the breeding code ‘C12-069’. Plants of ‘C12-069’ were propagated by cuttings for further evaluation and resulted to be uniform and stable. The new variety showed distinctive traits such as evergreen, with fruit of good flavor, large fruit size, and firmness.
The new variety ‘C12-069’ was originated from a cross of ‘FL98-325’ (seed parent) (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 26,523) and the variety known as ‘FL01-271’ (unpatented pollen parent) in 2006 in Florida, USA.
The new blueberry variety resulted from seedlings produced in a controlled breeding programme. The cross was made in 2006 in Florida, USA and the seed was sown and grown in Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
The new variety was selected in 2012 from among plants located on land at Corindi Beach and has since been named ‘C12-069’. Since then plants of ‘C12-069’ were propagated by cuttings for further evaluation and confirmed to be uniform and stable. Asexual reproduction of the new variety ‘C12-069’ by cutting propagation since 2012 at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia has demonstrated that the new variety reproduces true to type plants.
The new variety was selected in 2012 as a single plant within a population of seedlings resulting from controlled cross of Vaccinium varieties. The seedling population was planted in an experimental block in the field at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia and the selection of the new variety took place in the same block. Selection criteria were a combination of early cropping time, between the very early to early cropping variety ‘Snowchaser’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,503P3) and the early to mid season cropping variety ‘C99-42’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,695P2). ‘C12-069’ has estimated low chilling requirement between 150 to 300 hours, is non-deciduous type of plant (evergreen), very large fruit size, good fruit flavor, firm fruit and long shelf life. The new variety was subsequently evaluated for seven years at the commercial farm at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
The following characteristics of the new variety have been repeatedly observed and can be used to distinguish ‘C12-069’ as a new and distinct variety of Vaccinium corymbosum hybrid:
The new blueberry variety ‘C12-069’ has maintained its distinguished characteristics throughout successive asexual propagation. The variety has been repeatedly asexually reproduced through softwood cuttings in New South Wales, Australia and the clones are phenotypically identical to the original plant.
The accompanying photographic illustration shows typical specimens in full color of the foliage and fruit of the new variety ‘C12-069’. The colors are as nearly true as is reasonably possible in a color representation of this type.
The colors in the photographs are as close as possible with the photographic and printing technology utilized. The color values cited in the detailed botanical description accurately describe the colors of the new blueberry variety.
The following detailed description sets forth the distinctive characteristics of ‘C12-069’. The data which defines these characteristics was collected from asexual reproductions of the original selection. Dimensions, sizes, colors, and other characteristics are approximations and averages set forth as accurately as possible. For all traits data was collected from 3 plant parts across 6 randomly selected plants. For the traits relating to fruits (e.g., fruit weight, firmness, brix, acidity) the data is an average across twenty fruits collected randomly. The plant history was taken on plants approximately 3 years of age, and the descriptions relate to plants grown in the field in Corindi Beach, New South Wales, 2456 Australia. Descriptions of fruit characteristics were made on fruit grown in Corindi Beach, New South Wales, 2456 Australia. Color designations are from the 2007 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society (“R.H.S.”) Colour Chart. ‘C12-069’ has not been observed under all possible environments. The phenotype may vary slightly with different growing environments such as temperature, light, fertility, soil pH, moisture, and maturity levels, but without any change in the genotype.
Table 1 below provides a comparison between ‘C12-069’ and similar cultivars:
Table 2 below provides a comparison between ‘C12-069’ and ‘FL98-325’:
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220248587 P1 | Aug 2022 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63206154 | Jan 2021 | US |
