St-Jean d'Orléans

St-Jean d'Orléans

‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ is a new June bearing strawberry cultivar (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Horticultural Research and Development Center, Quebec. ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ was introduced because it has large, very firm, light red (Royal Horticultural Society color chart 43A or 44A, (1995)) shiny fruit, with excellent shelf life and resistance to leaf diseases.
The selection was named after the village of St-Jean located on l’Île d'Orléans, where the selection was tested.

Origin
‘St-Jean d’Orléans’, tested as FIO9623-43, is a selection resulting from a cross made in 1996 between ‘L’Acadie’ and ‘Joliette’. ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ has been tested since 1997 at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada sub-station in L’Acadie, Quebec; in controlled semi-commercial sites by our private partners Les Fraises de l’Île d’Orléans in Île d’Orléans, Quebec (latitude 46oN, longitude 71oW) and in Europe by Meiosis Ltd. (Bradbourne House, Stable Block, East Malling, Kent ME19 6DZ The data presented here are from replicated trials in commercial fields (Les Fraises de l'Île d'Orléans Inc., St-Laurent, Île d'Orléans, Quebec) during 1999-2003. st jean d'Orléans

Description and performance
Plants of ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ are vigorous, have a flat to flat-globose growing habit, and produce four to five inflorescences per crown. They can tolerate winter air temperatures below –30 ^oC with a 10 cm straw mulch cover. Petioles are short with three, medium to dark green, cupped and obtuse leaflets, with slightly acute teeth. The terminal leaflets have a 1.15-1.20 length: width ratio and the flowers are perfect.
‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ produces attractive medium to large size, light red, shiny fruit. The fruit shape is mainly globose-conic. The flesh is light to medium red almost throughout and very firm. Fresh fruit have a long shelf life and can maintain quality and appearance for up to 5 days at room temperature, making it superior to ‘Kent’ for shipping. ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ produces a higher yield compared to ‘Yamaska’, ‘Mira’, ‘Honeoye’, ‘Kent’ and ‘Annapolis’. ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ is also firmer than ‘Kent’, with similar flavor but lighter skin color. ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ is an early-mid season cultivar. Fifty percent of the primary fruit ripen by June 27, which is similar to ‘Kent’ at the sub-station in L’Acadie, and production peaks were reached on the same day as ‘Kent’. It is less susceptible to leaf diseases, compared to ‘Kent’. The susceptibility to leaf scorch (Diplocarpon earlina Ell. & Ev.) and leaf spot (Mycosphaerella fragariae (Tul.) Lindau) of St-Jean d’Orléans was ranked as moderate to low in trials conducted since 1997.

Area of adaptation and uses
‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ is recommended for Eastern Central Canada, especially in areas where the climate is similar to that of Quebec. Typically, strawberry production (with straw protection) in Quebec occurs in areas with winter temperatures down to –30 ^oC and warm and humid summers with unpredictable mixture of sun and rain (drought some seasons, constant rain in other seasons). ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ plants perform very well in heavy or sandy soils in a matted row system. It is also adapted to the waiting bed system using plastic mulch and presently is adapted by a group of growers (Les Fraises de I’île d’Orléans) who invested in development of this cultivar.

Availability
Canadian Plant Breeder’s Rights and a US patent were granted. The plants of ‘St-Jean d’Orléans’ will be available from licensed nurseries in Quebec. Nonexclusive multiplication licenses can be obtained from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. European nurseries may obtain a multiplication license from Meiosis Ltd. (Bradbourne House, Stable Block, East Malling, Kent, UK ME19 6DZ). A limited number of plants are available for research purposes from the corresponding author.

PBRO and US Patent
U.S. Patent No. PP18,111