Ancestors, Origin, and Some Descendants of the Queensland Strawberry 'Phenomenal'

Abstract

‘Phenomenal’, a Queensland heritage cultivar bred in 1907, has recently gained importance in the strawberry industry in Australia as a source of resistance to charcoal rot ( Macrophomina phaseolina) and Anthracnose crown rot ( Colletotrichum gloeosporioides). We investigated and describe the origins and ancestors of ‘Phenomenal’ and some of its descendants as far as ‘Kabarla’ to document the pedigree of an important early subtropical cultivar in Australia.

The documentation of the pedigree of ancestors, include ‘Pink’s Prolific’, ‘British Queen’, ‘Black Prince’, ‘Keen’s Imperial’, ‘White Carolina’( Fragaria chiloensis), ‘Federator’, ‘La Margeurite’ and ‘Hudson’s Bay’, and the descendents include ‘Majestic’, ‘Redlands Crimson’, ‘Earlisweet’, and ‘Kabarla’. There is an association of grandparentage through ‘British Queen’ with the high flavored ‘Mieze Schindler’. ‘Phenomenal’ is also in the distant ancestry of some current cultivars in Queensland and Florida. The documentation provides information to enhance the use of pedigree analysis in current strawberry breeding programs.