Lady Olympia

Potato

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Lady Claire', 'Yukon Gold', 'Russet Burbank' and 'Atlantic'

Summary: 'Lady Olympia' has a more erect growth habit than 'Russet Burbank' and taller plant height than 'Lady Claire'. 'Lady Olympia' has stronger anthocyanin in the stem than the reference varieties. 'Lady Olympia' has a more closed leaf silhouette than the reference varieties and produces more secondary and tertiary leaflets than 'Yukon Gold and 'Russet Burbank'. 'Lady Olympia' has white flowers while 'Yukon Gold' has red-violet flowers. 'Lady Olympia' has stronger anthocyanin in the calyx and peduncle than the reference varieties. 'Lady Olympia' has light yellow tuber flesh while 'Yukon Gold' has medium yellow flesh and 'Russet Burbank' has white flesh. 'Lady Olympia' has stronger anthocyanin in the light sprout base and tip than the reference varieties.

Description:

'Lady Olympia' is a late season maturing potato variety which has an erect growth habit. 'Lady Olympia' produces a tall, stem type plant. The stems are medium to thick and have strong anthocyanin colouration. Stem wings are prominent and waved single. The stem nodes have slight swelling and weak anthocyanin. 'Lady Olympia' produces a small number of branches.

The leaves of 'Lady Olympia' are dark green in colour and have medium pubescence on the lower surface. The leaf silhouette is closed. The leaf rachis has no anthocyanin on the top or bottom. The rachis has moderate pubescence on the top and bottom. The petioles have weak anthocyanin and the stipules are medium in size. The terminal leaflets are medium ovate in shape with acuminate shaped tips and cordate shaped, moderate to strongly asymmetrical bases. The margins of the terminal leaflets have medium waviness. 'Lady Olympia' has four pairs of primary leaflets which are large in size. They are narrowly ovate in shape with acuminate shaped tips and cordate shaped, moderately asymmetrical bases.

'Lady Olympia' produces a medium number of inflorescences per plant and a medium number of florets per inflorescence. The flower buds have medium to strong anthocyanin and are weakly persistent. When fully expanded, the flowers are white in colour. The corolla is medium in size with a very weakly prominent star. The calyx has strong anthocyanin and the peduncle has medium to strong anthocyanin colouration. The anthers are bright yellow in colour when the flower is fully expanded and are arranged in a narrow shaped cone. The stigma is clavate and dark green in colour.

The tubers of 'Lady Olympia' have light yellow skin with no secondary colour. Skin texture is smooth and tuber shape is oblong. Tuber eyes are shallow in depth, intermediate in number and predominantly apical in distribution. The eyebrows are prominent. The tuber flesh is light yellow in colour with no secondary colour. 'Lady Olympia' produces a high number of tubers per plant.

The light sprout of 'Lady Olympia' is ovoid in shape with strong pubescence and very strong, blue-violet anthocyanin colouration at the base. The light sprout tip habit is closed. The tip has very strong pubescence and very strong, blue-violet anthocyanin. The light sprout has a low frequency of root initials and medium to strong protrusion of lenticels. The lateral shoots on the light sprout are short in length.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Lady Olympia' originated from a cross between 'Agria' and KW 78-34-470, made in Rilland, The Netherlands in 1986.

Tests & Trials: Tests and trials for 'Lady Olympia' were conducted at Summerside, P.E.I. in 1999. A randomized block design was used. There were four replicates per variety with four rows per replicate.

Comparison table for 'Lady Olympia' with reference varieties 'Lady Claire', 'Yukon Gold', 'Russet Burbank' and 'Atlantic'

Secondary and tertiary leaflets