Summit Russet

Potato

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Gemstar Russet' and 'Russet Burbank'

Summary: 'Summit Russet' has a shorter plant height than the reference varieties. 'Summit Russet' has moderate coalescence of the terminal and lateral leaflets while the reference varieties have absent or very low coalescence. 'Summit Russet' has smaller lateral leaflets than the reference varieties. 'Summit Russet' has medium anthocyanin in the flower bud while 'Gemstar Russet' has no anthocyanin. 'Summit Russet' has a spherical shaped light sprout while 'Russet Burbank' has an ovoid light sprout and 'Gemstar Russet' has a conical light sprout. 'Summit Russet' has stronger anthocyanin in the light sprout base than the reference varieties.

Description:

'Summit Russet' has a semi-upright growth habit and produces a leaf type plant. The stems are medium in thickness and have weak anthocyanin colouration which is located in the leaf axils and upwards on the stem. The nodes have absent to very low swelling.

'Summit Russet' has medium green leaves and an intermediate leaf silhouette. The leaf rachis and petiole have no anthocyanin colouration. The terminal leaflet is medium ovate in shape with an acute shaped tip and obtuse to cordate shaped base. The terminal and lateral leaflets have a medium frequency of coalescence. The lateral leaflets are medium in size and are narrowly ovate in shape with an acute shaped tip and cordate shaped base. The leaf veins are shallow to 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 moderate pubescence at the apical rosette. The presence of secondary leaflets is weak.

'Summit Russet' has a medium to high flowering profusion and a medium inflorescence size. The flower buds are strongly persistent and have medium anthocyanin colouration. The corolla is white in colour, medium in size and has a strongly prominent star. The peduncle has weak to medium anthocyanin colouration.

The tubers have light beige skin with yellow colour at the base of the eye. The skin develops weak to medium anthocyanin colouration when exposed to light. The skin texture is russetted and the tubers are long oval in shape. The tuber eyes are shallow in depth and are evenly distributed. The tuber eyebrows are moderately prominent. The tuber flesh is white in colour with no secondary colour present.

'Summit Russet' has a medium sized light sprout which is spherical in shape. The light sprout base has strong anthocyanin with an absent to low 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 a closed habit and has no anthocyanin colouration. The tip has sparse pubescence. There are a medium number of root tips and the lateral roots are short in length.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Summit Russet' originated from a cross between A77236-6 and TND329-1Russ. The cross was made at the University of Idaho's Aberdeen Research and Extension Center in 1984. It was first selected in the field in 1986 and evaluated for 16 years. 'Summit Russet' was tested under the experimental designation A84118-3 in the Western Regional Trials in 1996 to 1998. Selection criteria included yield, appearance, specific gravity, resistance to tuber defects and resistance to common field diseases including Verticillium wilt, common scab and tuber net necrosis.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Summit Russet' 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 table for 'Summit Russet' with reference varieties 'Gemstar Russet' and 'Russet Burbank'

Plant height (cm)