Fusion

Pea

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Maribu'

Summary: 'Fusion' is a semi-leafless, yellow cotyledon, field pea variety that has taller plants than 'Maribu' and the other candidate variety 'Polstead'. 'Fusion' has a shorter petiole than the plants of 'Maribu'. 'Fusion' matures approximately one week earlier than 'Maribu' in Westlock, Alberta.

Description:

'Fusion' is a yellow cotyledon, semi-leafless, field pea variety with no stem fasciation and tall plants. At flowering the plants are green in colour. There is no anthocyanin colouration in the plant. The vines of 'Fusion' are medium to long in length and there is no anthocyanin in the axil. 'Fusion' has no leaflets. The stipules are moderately waxy on the upper surface and have weak to medium, shallow dentation along the margins. Stipule development is normal and the rabbit-eared characteristic is absent. Stipule flecking is medium in density.

'Fusion' flowers early to mid-season and produces a moderate number of flowering nodes per stem. There are a maximum of two flowers per node. The standard of the flower is white and the base is level. The apex of the upper calyx lobe is acuminate. The peduncle, from stem to first flower, is medium to slightly long in length. The pods of 'Fusion' have no thickened wall, no parchment and no curvature. The distal part of the pod is blunt. When fully swollen, the pods of 'Fusion' are green, with no strings of suture or anthocyanin colouration on the suture or outer wall. The immature seeds are light green in colour.

'Fusion' has yellow cotyledons and a simple starch grain. There is no anthocyanin colouration on the testa, and no black hilum. The seeds are small to medium sized and spherical, with no wrinkling or dimpling of the cotyledon. 'Fusion' matures early to mid-season.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Fusion' resulted from the crossing of the varieties 'Maribu' × 'Arrow' in 1998. In 1999 a single plant was selected from the progeny of this cross, followed by line selection and replicated yield trials. The breeding process was carried out at the Cebeco Seeds B.V. breeding station in Lelystad in the centre of the Netherlands. In breeding 'Fusion' the selection criteria were yield, resistance to mildew, resistance to lodging and plant height.

Tests & Trials: Tests and trials for 'Fusion' were conducted at Westlock, Alberta, during the summers of 2004 and 2005. The candidate and reference varieties were seeded in a 4 replicate randomized complete block design. Each plot consisted of 4 rows, spaced at 20 cm. The plots were seeded to 6 metres and trimmed to 4 metres. Measured observations were based on 20 measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Fusion' with reference variety 'Maribu'

Plant height (cm)

Petiole length (cm)