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'Rosa Linda' Strawberry1
Craig K. Chandler, Daniel E. Legard and Charles A. Sims2Introduction
'Rosa Linda' strawberry (Fragaria xananassa) has produced high early season (December through February) yields of attractive, flavorful fruit in trials at the University of Floridas Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Dover. It is recommended for commercial trial in west central Florida and other areas with relatively mild winter climates. The clone was named 'Rosa Linda' (pretty rose in Spanish) because of the pleasant rose aroma that is sometimes detected when the fruit is eaten.Origin
'Rosa Linda' (tested as FL 90-15) originated from a 1990 cross of two Florida Agricultural Experiment Station breeding selections, FL 87-418 and FL 87-200. There are only a few named cultivars in its long pedigree; 'Toro' and 'Parker' (Univ. of California cultivars) were two of its great grandparents, and 'Aiko' (Univ. of California) and 'Dover' (Univ. of Florida) are four and five generations back in the pedigree respectively.Description
'Rosa Linda' has a more erect plant habit than 'Sweet Charlie', a characteristic that tends to make its fruit more visible (Fig. 1).
CREDITS: C.K. Chandler, 2000
Figure 1. Its petioles are similar in length to those of 'Sweet Charlie', but are stiffer. 'Rosa Linda' has greater early season (Dec.- Feb.) yield than 'Camarosa' (currently the standard, main-season cultivar in west central Florida) but not greater than 'Sweet Charlie'. Its mean fruit weight is similar to 'Sweet Charlie', which is less than the mean fruit weight of 'Camarosa'. Primary fruit are variable in shape; secondary and later fruit are typically conical (Fig. 2).
CREDITS: C.K. Chandler, 2000
Figure 2. 'Rosa Linda' fruit. Mature fruit frequently have white tips early in the season, but otherwise ripening is uniform. External fruit color is bright red with a deeper red blush around the achenes. Internal fruit color is mostly bright red, which make fresh slices of 'Rosa Linda' fruit very attractive. The fruit has a firmness and flavor intensity that is similar to the fruit of 'Sweet Charlie'. While 'Sweet Charlie' fruit could be described as sweet and juicy, 'Rosa Linda' fruit flavor could be described as full-bodied and aromatic. The calyx lobes on 'Rosa Linda' fruit are mostly entire and recurved.
In commercial fruiting field trials conducted over four seasons, from 1993 to 1997, 'Rosa Linda' was not unduly affected by any of the major strawberry diseases or by twospotted spider mites (Tetranychus urtricae). Plants have been observed with green petal disease (caused by a phytoplasma) but currently this is not a widespread problem.
The most distinctive features of Rosa Linda are the consistency of shape and color of its secondary and later fruit, its erect plant habit, and the unique aromatic quality of its fruit.
Availability
The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences obtained a U.S. plant patent (no. 9,866) on Rosa Linda in 1997. Plants of this cultivar are in limited supply but can be obtained from California Pacific Plant Exports, Inc., P.O. Box 6147 Chico, CA 95927. The web site of California Pacific Plant Exports is www.strawberry-plants.com.
Footnotes
1. This document is HS821, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date October 2001. Reviewed May 2003. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.2. Craig K. Chandler, associate professor, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center - Dover; Daniel E. Legard, associate professor, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center - Dover; Charles A. Sims, professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
Copyright Information
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