Emerald

Emerald is a low-chill southern highbush released by the University of Florida in 1999, selected by breeder Paul Lyrene from a March 1991 Gainesville cross of the selections FL91-69 and NC1528. Its plant patent describes it as a complex tetraploid built largely on V. corymbosum with genes from V. darrowii worked in for warm-climate adaptation. It became one of the most widely planted cultivars in north-central and central Florida, with smaller acreage in southeast Georgia, because it combines a high-yielding bush with berries big and firm enough for premium fresh-market packing. A distinguishing habit is that its flowers open uniformly, which concentrates the harvest window, and Florida growers commonly apply hydrogen cyanamide to sharpen that even bud break. Nearly the whole commercial crop comes off between about 22 April and 25 May at Gainesville, with the halfway point around 1 May. In central Florida it is normally interplanted with 'Jewel'.