United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Michael A Hardigan

Chad E Finn

A new and distinct primocane-fruiting red raspberry cultivar that originated from seed produced from a cross between the primocane-fruiting red raspberry plant 'Caroline' and the red raspberry plant ORUS 4099-1, the latter of which is a sibling of the recent cultivar 'Kokanee'. This new red raspberry cultivar can be distinguished by its high yields of bright colored, medium sized berries with low defects, excellent firmness and fruit quality, and a unique flavor that is both tangy and aromatic, with a good balance to tartness and sweetness. The berries are well suited for the fresh market, and, due to their ability to be picked at early/pink stages with good flavor and continue ripening in storage with respect to color, they may offer some additional benefit for packing/shipping as a fresh market variety.

Red raspberry plant named 'Finnberry'

A new and distinct blackberry cultivar that originated from seed produced from a cross between the thorny primocane-fruiting maternal blackberry plant ORUS 4355-2 and the thornless primocane-fruiting paternal blackberry plant 'Prime-Ark&#xae; Freedom'. 'Thunderhead' is the first primocane-fruiting blackberry variety released by the USDA-ARS breeding program in Oregon. This new blackberry cultivar can be distinguished by its exceptionally high plant vigor and yields of medium sized berries with high gloss, firmness, excellent flavor and fruit quality, and relatively small seed size. The berries are well suited for fresh eating, with good sweetness and gloss when picked firm, and low bitter notes. The new and distinct blackberry variety contains a genetic background derived from eastern U.S. germplasm and is expected to grow and is expected to perform well in most areas where primocane-fruiting blackberries are currently grown.

Blackberry plant named 'thunderhead'

A new and distinct blackberry cultivar that originated from seed produced from a cross between the thornless semi-erect maternal blackberry plant 'Eclipse' and the thorny erect paternal blackberry plant ORUS 3681-1, the latter of which introduces genetics from cultivated and wildgermplasm from the southeastern U.S. This new blackberry cultivar can be distinguished by its high plant vigor, exceptional yields of small-to-medium sized berries with high gloss, low defects, excellent flavor and fruit quality, and high heat tolerance. The berries are well suited for fresh eating, with good sweetness, aroma, and gloss when picked firm. The new and distinct blackberry variety has fruit that are borne on vigorous canes which contain the 'Merton Thornless' source of genetic thornlessness.

Blackberry plant named 'Celestial'

A new and distinct blackberry cultivar that originated from seed produced from a cross between the thornless maternal blackberry plant 'ORDS 2707-1' (unpatented) and the thornless paternal blackberry plant 'ORDS 2785-2' (unpatented)). This new blackberry cultivar can be distinguished by its high yields of small-to-medium sized, uniformly shaped, glossy, and distinctly conical berries that can be machine harvested with good firmness and quality for a trailing type of blackberry. The berries are well suited for processing, with an excellent flavor characterized by mild sweetness, and a good sugar/acid balance. The new and distinct blackberry variety has fruit that are borne on vigorous canes which combine two distinct sources of genetic thornlessness ('Austin Thornless', &#x2018;Lincoln Logan&#x2019;) from the respective female and male parent.

Growing community of inventors

Corvallis, OR, United States of America

Michael A Hardigan