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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #182019
Title: 'OBSIDIAN' TRAILING BLACKBERRY

Author
item Finn, Chad
item YORGEY, B - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item STRIK, B - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item Martin, Robert
item KEMPLER, C - AGRI-FOODS CANADA

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/18/2005
Publication Date: 12/1/2005
Citation: Finn, C.E., Yorgey, B.M., Strik, B.C., Martin, R.R., Kempler, C. 2005. 'Obsidian' trailing blackberry. HortScience. 40:2185-2188.

Interpretive Summary: ‘Marion’ is currently the most important blackberry (Rubus L.) cultivar in the world. The erect, e.g., Navaho, Kiowa, Cherokee and semi-erect, e.g., Chester Thornless, Hull Thornless and Triple Crown cultivars have been primarily grown for fresh market sales and the trailing (e.g. ‘Marion’, ‘Kotata’, and ‘Waldo’) cultivars for processing. However, there are some exceptions. ‘Olallie’, a trailing blackberry, was a major fresh market cultivar in California for local sales and long distance shipping until about 2001 and more recently ‘Siskiyou’, produced along the West Coast, has proven adapted to long distance shipping. In the past, the erect and semi-erect blackberries have typically had better firmness/skin toughness and black color than the trailing cultivars, but the trailing cultivars have generally had better flavor and are more pleasant to eat (perception of smaller or fewer seeds). The USDA-ARS recently released three blackberry cultivars for the fresh market:‘Obsidian’ and ‘Metolius’as very early ripening blackberries and ‘Black Diamond’as a mid-season, dual purpose (fresh/processing market)cultivar. ‘Obsidian’ is a trailing blackberry from the U.S. Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service breeding program in Corvallis, OR released in cooperation with the Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station and the Washington State University Agricultural Research Center. ‘Obsidian’ is very early ripening, high-yielding, vigorous cultivar with large fruit that have excellent fresh fruit quality.

Technical Abstract: The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Washington Agricultural Research Center announce the release of a new very early ripening trailing blackberry 'Obsidian'. 'Obsidian' was selected in 1996 from a cross between ORUS 828-43 and ORUS 1122-1 and tested as ORUS 1369-3. Both parents of 'Obsidian' have complex pedigree, but ‘Marion’, ‘Olallie’, and OSC 878 (‘Jenner’ x ‘Eldorado’) figure prominently in their backgrounds and ‘Austin Thornless’, ‘Boysen’, ‘Logan’, ‘Zielinski’, ‘Young’, and ‘Lucretia’ can also be found in their pedigrees. 'Obsidian' has been evaluated in trials at Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, OR, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada research station in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and in a commercial grower field in Lynden WA. 'Obsidian' is being released primarily due to its superior performance as a very early ripening fresh market berry. The cultivar is named after the beautiful, black, shiny, glass-like, volcanic rock of the same name.