Epicure

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leaf Flowers plant
sprout tuber sliced tuber

General

  • Origin & Breeding: bred from the cross (Magnum Bonum x Early Regent) made by J. Clark in Christchurch, England, in 1897.
  • Year registered in Canada: 1923
  • Registration number: P-7
  • Maturity: very early

Botanical Features

  • Plants: rapid emergence and development; low to medium height; semi-erect to erect, bushy; stems numerous with distinct red-purple on the internodes, becoming very highly coloured if much exposed; nodes mainly green, slightly swollen.
  • Leaves: dark green, glossy, short, moderately close and drooping; midribs pigmented.
    Terminal leaflets: tend to droop; overlapped by the first pair or primary leaflets.
    Primary leaflets: narrow, red-purple petiolules.
    Secondary leaflets: moderately numerous and large.
  • Flowers: few; white corolla with faint green tinge; none to rare berry production.
  • Tubers: round, large, slightly irregular; white to yellow coloured skin, turns pink on exposure to light; deep to very deep yellow eyes; white flesh.
  • Sprouts: ovoid, dark bluish purple, base moderately pubescent, apex strongly pubescent.

Agricultural Features

High to very high yielding variety; rapid tuber production and bulking; tolerant to cold, recovers rapidly from frost damage and capable of tuber production at soil temperatures below those required by other varieties; good storability; medium dormancy period; medium specific gravity.

Usually, this variety is harvested immature, when the flesh is moist and firm; when mature, cooked texture is very mealy.

  • Utilization: distinctive flavour; good for boiling and baking; not suitable for chipping and frying.
  • Chief Market: early fresh market.

Reaction to Diseases

Highly resistant: fusarium dry rot, PVA, PVX.
Moderately resistant: leaf roll.
Moderately susceptible: late blight.
Susceptible: gangrene (phoma rot), blackleg, PVY, verticillium wilt.
Highly susceptible: common scab, powdery scab.

References: 1, 4, 6, 10.

Send your comments to cfia.potatosection-sectiondespommesdeterre.acia@inspection.gc.ca regarding potato variety descriptions.