Patent Grant
PP28336
Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: Pyrus communis.
Variety denomination: ‘HW624’.
The new and distinct pear tree described and claimed herein originated from a controlled cross between ‘Harrow Sweet’ and ‘NY10353’ made in 1988 in Harrow, Ontario. Pedigree of ‘HW624’ is shown in
‘HW624’ was selected as a hybrid seedling (‘H8806-1’) in 1995 and propagated by budding on pear seedling rootstocks. Trees were planted in an evaluation orchard in 1999 in Jordan Station, Ontario. This selection was advanced and tested in regional trials beginning in 2000.
‘HW624’ is harvested two weeks after ‘Bartlett’, whereas ‘Harrow Sweet’ is harvested three and a half weeks after ‘Bartlett’ and ‘NY10353’ is harvested one week before ‘Bartlett’. ‘HW624’ has medium to large size fruit, whereas ‘Harrow Sweet’ also has medium to large size fruit and ‘NY10353’ has small, plump spindle shaped fruit. ‘HW624’ fruit is yellow with a Red Blush at maturity, whereas ‘Harrow Sweet’ fruit is yellow at maturity. ‘HW624’ has a high level of resistance to fire blight and psylla, whereas ‘Harrow Sweet’ has good resistance to fire blight and ‘NY10353’ has good resistance to psylla and fire blight.
On the new pear tree ‘HW624’, the profile of the sides of the fruit of ‘HW624’ is straight whereas they are concave on the reference varieties ‘Bosc’ (R1), ‘Harrow Sweet’ (R2), ‘AC Harrow Crisp’ (R3) and ‘Bartlett’ (R4). The ground colour of the skin of ‘HW624’ is yellow whereas it is yellow green on ‘Bosc’, ‘Harrow Street’ and ‘Bartlett’. ‘HW624’ has a medium to large area of over colour of the skin whereas there is none on ‘Bosc’, small to medium area on ‘Harrow Street’ and very small on ‘Bartlett’. The over colour of ‘HW624’ is dark red whereas it is orange red on ‘Harrow Street’, ‘AC Harrow Crisp’ and ‘Bartlett’. ‘HW624’ has no russetting around the eye basin, on the cheeks or around the stalk attachment of the fruit whereas ‘Bosc’ has a large to very large area. The fruit stalk of ‘HW624’ is thin whereas it is medium thickness on ‘Harrow Street’ and ‘AC Harrow Crisp’ and thick on ‘Bartlett’. ‘HW624’ has weak curvature of the fruit stalk whereas the curvature is medium to strong on ‘Bosc’, medium on ‘AC Harrow Crisp’ and absent on ‘Bartlett’. The attitude of the sepals on the fruit of ‘HW624’ is spreading whereas it is erect on ‘Bosc’ and ‘Harrow Street’ and converging on ‘AC Harrow Crisp’ and ‘Bartlett’. ‘HW624’ is resistant to moderately resistant to fireblight (Erwinia amylovora) whereas ‘Bosc’ is moderately susceptible and ‘Bartlett’ is susceptible. ‘HW624’ is resistant to moderately resistant to pear psylla (Cacopsylla pyricola Foerst) whereas the reference varieties are susceptible.
The following are major distinguishing characteristics. ‘HW624’ is a mid-late season pear cultivar for the fresh market. ‘HW624’ produces heavy crops of medium-to large-sized fruit, picked about 2 weeks after ‘Bartlett’. Fruits are green when harvested, turning yellow as fruits ripen, and there is a medium red blush where exposed to the sun. The tree has consistently produced heavy crops, with no evidence of biennial bearing. There were no natural fire blight infections on the seedling tree, and results from controlled inoculations indicate a high level of resistance to fire blight. The tree is also highly resistant to pear psylla (Cacopsylla pyricola Foerst). In years when orchard populations of psylla have been high, trees of ‘HW624’ have had no noticeable presence of this insect pest. ‘HW624’ is not graft-compatible with quince rootstocks. The characteristics most useful in distinguishing ‘HW624’ are fruit characteristics and resistance to fire blight and resistance to pear psylla.
The accompanying photographic illustration illustrates in full color ‘HW624’. The colors are as nearly true as reasonably possible in color representation of this type. Colors in the photographs may differ from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description below, which accurately describes the colors of the new pear tree.
The ‘HW624’ variety is uniform and stable. Asexual propagation maintains uniformity and stability. No off-types, variants or mutations have been found to date. Virus-tested ‘HW624’ is maintained in North Saanich, British Columbia.
The R.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society 1966 version has been used for colour identification of fruit and shoot. The description is based on observation of four trees grafted on seedling rootstock originally established during the 1999 growing season. Comparisons were made with ‘Bosc’ (R1), ‘Harrow Sweet’ (R2), ‘AC Harrow Crisp’ (R3) and ‘Bartlett’ (R4). Four trees of each variety grafted on ‘Bartlett’ open pollinated seedling rootstock were spaced about 3 metres apart with about 4.5 metres between rows and were observed during the 2009-2010 growing seasons in Jordan Station, Ontario. Fire blight evaluations and observations were conducted in 1988-2000 in Harrow, Ontario. ‘HW624’ was observed to be able to survive winter conditions (−29° C.) in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, while still having a full crop the following season. The observed chilling range for ‘HW624’ is 800-1000 hours, measured during the dormant period temperature below 45° F.
amylovora)
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The ‘HW624’ variety has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions to date. Accordingly, it is possible that the phenotypic expression may vary somewhat with changes in light intensity and duration, cultural practices, and other environmental conditions.
| Entry |
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| http://www.virtualorchard.net/idfta/cft/1999/april/hunter/08%20Hunter.pdf; Feb. 20-24, 1999; 6 pages. |
| Canadian Plant Breeder's Rights Registration Certificate No. 4402 granted Sep. 6, 2012 for ‘HW624’ Pyrus communis variety. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160295760 P1 | Oct 2016 | US |
