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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #100279
Title: SISKIYOU TRAILING BLACKBERRY

Author
item Finn, Chad
item LAWRENCE, F - RETIRED ARS
item DEFRANCESCO, JOE - OSU, DEPT OF ENTOMOLOGY
item STRIK, BERNADINE - OSU, DEPT OF HORTICULTURE
item YORGEY, BRIAN - OSU, DEPT OF FOOD SCIENCE
item PEACOCK, DEREK - OSU, N. WILL. RESEARCH
item KOSKELA, GINA - OSU, N. WILL. RESEARCH

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Germplasm Release
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/17/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Siskiyou is a new trailing blackberry cultivar that has just been released by the USDA-ARS. Siskiyou has done well in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and California. While Siskiyou is an outstanding fresh berry, it is also very suitable for processing and can be machine harvested. Siskiyou plants are more resistant to diseases and environmental stress that Marion. While the fruit flavor is not as wonderful as Marion,it is very good. The berries are much firmer than Marion and therefore, much easier to handle. Siskiyou ripens its fruit very early, 10- 14 days before Marion and about 7 days before Kotata. Siskiyou can be grown wherever trailing blackberries or hybrid berries, such as Marion, Olallie and Boysen can be grown.

Technical Abstract: The Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture and Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station announce the naming and release of a large and firm fruited, early ripening blackberry Rubus sp.cv.Siskiyou. Siskiyou was selected in 1983 and was tested as ORUS 830-4. Siskiyou was selected from the cross of ORUS 2027 (Olallie x ORUS 1367) x ORUS 1826 (ORUS 1122 x Boysen). Rubus ursinus is the primary species in the background of Siskiyou but R. idaeus and R. armeniacus (R. procerus) are also present in the pedigree. Siskiyou has been evaluated in observation trials in Corvallis, Ore., Mount Vernon, Wash. And Abbottsford B.C., in replicated trials at Oregon State University¿s North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, Ore., and in grower trials in Oregon¿s Willamette Valley and in the Modesto, California area. Siskiyou has consistently produced very large, firm, and excellent flavored berries, early in the blackberry season. Therefore, growers have consistently received a premium for Siskiyou fruit in the early, fresh market. Siskiyou is one of the earliest ripening trailing cultivars, ripening before Kotata and with Black Butte. Yields of Siskiyou have been similar to Kotata, less that Marion and greater than Black Butte. Siskiyou is introduced as a berry for the fresh market, pick-your-own operations and for processing. While primarily grown for the fresh market, which is hand picked, Siskiyou is suitable for machine harvesting. Siskiyou is not patented.