Blueberry--`Ozarkblue`

#The new and distinct variety of blueberry originated from a hand pollinated cross of USDA Selection G-144 (non-patented) .times.Florida Selection 4-76 (non-patented) made in 1976 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Station at Beltsville, Md. The parent plants used in this hybridization have not been named and released and are unavailable in commerce.

#Plants and fruit of this new variety differ phenotypically from its parents. The new variety is earlier ripening, more productive, and possesses better fruit firmness but smaller fruit size than the parent USDA Selection G-144, and is later ripening, has larger fruit size, and is more flavorful than the parent Florida Selection 4-76. The new variety is an interspecific hybrid, derived from crossing three Vaccinium species. It is 13/16 V. corymbosum L., 2/16 V.darrowi Camp, and 1/16 V. ashei Reade. The new variety phenotypically exhibits plant and fruit characters predominately of the northern highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L., but may possess genes for wider environmental and soil adaptability characteristic of its V. darrowi and V. ashei progenitors.

#The seeds resulting from this controlled hybridization were germinated in a greenhouse at Beltsville, Md. in the fall of 1976. The resulting seedlings were shipped to Fayetteville, Ark. in March, 1977, potted and grown for one year in a lath house at the University of Arkansas. In March, 1978 the seedlings were planted in a field on the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at Fayetteville, Ark. The seedlings fruited during the summer of 1980 and one, designated Ark. 109, was selected for its large fruit size, high productivity, and good fruit quality characteristics.

#The accompanying photographs show typical specimens of the fruit and leaf of the new variety in color as nearly true as it is reasonably possible to make in a color illustration of this character.

#The following is a detailed description of the botanical and pomological characteristics of the subject blueberry. Color data are presented in Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart designations and are supplemented, where possible, with readings from a Minolta Chroma Meter CR-200, version 3.0, which measures absolute chromaticity in tristimulus values Y, x, and y as determined by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE Yxy). Calibration was performed using a standard white plate supplied by the manufacturer.

#Where dimensions, sizes, colors and other characteristics are given, it is to be understood that such characteristics are approximations of averages set forth as accurately as practicable.

#The descriptions reported herein are from specimens grown at Clarksville, Ark. unless otherwise noted.