Red Scarlett

Potato

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Cleopatra'

Summary: 'Red Scarlett' has a less spreading growth habit and shorter plant height than 'Cleopatra'. 'Red Scarlett' has a higher flowering profusion than 'Cleopatra'. 'Red Scarlett' has stronger anthocyanin colouration on the inner surface of the corolla than 'Cleopatra'. 'Red Scarlett' has an oblong shaped tuber while 'Cleopatra' has a oval tuber. 'Red Scarlett' has medium anthocyanin in the light sprout tip while 'Cleopatra' has no anthocyanin.

Description:

'Red Scarlett' has a semi-upright growth habit and produces a leaf type plant. The stems are medium to thick and have strong anthocyanin colouration which is distributed evenly along the stem. The nodes have low swelling.

'Red Scarlett' has medium green leaves and an intermediate leaf silhouette. The leaf rachis and petiole have strong anthocyanin colouration. The terminal leaflet is medium ovate in shape with an acute shaped tip and cordate shaped base. The terminal and lateral leaflets have an absent or very low frequency of coalescence. The lateral leaflets are medium to large in size and are narrowly ovate in shape with an acute shaped tip and cordate shaped base. The leaf veins are medium in depth. The terminal and lateral leaflets have absent to very weak waviness of the margin and have medium glossiness of the upper surface. The leaf blades have weak pubescence at the apical rosette. The presence of secondary leaflets is weak.

'Red Scarlett' has a medium flowering profusion and a small to medium inflorescence size. The flower buds are strongly persistent and have weak to medium anthocyanin colouration. The corolla is red violet in colour with medium anthocyanin on the inner surface. The corolla is medium in size and has a moderately prominent star. The peduncle has strong anthocyanin colouration.

The tubers have red skin with white colour at the base of the eye. The skin texture is smooth and the tubers are oblong in shape. The tuber eyes are shallow to intermediate in depth and are evenly distributed. The tuber eyebrows are slightly prominent. The tuber flesh is medium yellow in colour with no secondary colour present.

'Red Scarlett' has a medium sized light sprout which is ovoid in shape. The light sprout base has strong anthocyanin with a low to medium proportion of blue. The base has medium pubescence. The tip of the light sprout is smaller in size in relation to the base. The tip has an intermediate habit and has medium anthocyanin colouration. The tip has medium pubescence. There are a medium number of root tips and the lateral roots are short in length.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Red Scarlett' originated from a cross between 'ZPC 80 O 239' and 'MANS.MGB78-286', made in Metslawier, The Netherlands in 1996. Selection criteria included yield, quality, disease resistance and agronomic characters.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Red Scarlett' were conducted in North Tilley, New Brunswick in 2004. A randomized block design was used with four replicates per variety. All entries were planted in single-row plots and each entry had one replicate per block. Plots consisted of rows 5.5 meters long and between row spacing of 91 cm. Measured characteristics were based on 10 measurements. Colour determinations were made using the RHS colour chart.

Comparison tables for 'Red Scarlett' with reference variety 'Cleopatra'

Plant height (cm)

Colour of corolla (RHS)