Details for: PI 654984, Corylus avellana L., 'Sacajawea'

Sacajawea is the result of a cross of OSU 43.091 x Sant Pere made in 1990 by Shawn A. Mehlenbacher and David C. Smith. 'Sant Pere', a minor cultivar from Tarragona (Spain) with very early nut maturity, was described by Tasias-Valls (1975). We believe that OSU 43.091 resulted from self-pollination of Montebello, which is partially self-compatible (Mehlenbacher and Smith, 1991). Alternatively, the pollen parent of OSU 43.091 might be an unknown cultivar or OSU selection. `Montebello', a Sicilian cultivar, was described by Manzo and Tamponi (1982) and is grown under many synonyms, including Nocchione, Nostrale, Comune di Sicilia, Siciliana, and `Santa Maria del Gesu.

Hybrid seeds from the cross OSU 43.091 x Sant Pere were harvested in Aug. 1990, stratified, and the resulting seedlings grown in the greenhouse during the summer of 1991. In Oct. 1991, 135 seedlings from this cross were planted in the field. The location designation OSU 540.130 for Sacajawea indicates the row and tree within the row of the original seedling. A few nuts were first observed on the original seedling in Sept. 1994 but were not harvested. Nuts were harvested and evaluated in each of the next 4 years. The selected tree was propagated by tieoff layerage of the suckers in the summer of 1997. The resulting rooted layers were lined out in a nursery row in 1998 and used to plant a replicated yield trial in the spring of 1999 at the Smith Horticulture Research Farm in Corvallis. Four trees of each genotype were planted in a randomized complete block design with a single tree of each genotype in each block. Oregon's leading cultivar, `Barcelona', and the recently released `Lewis and `Clark were included as checks. Nuts were harvested and evaluated annually for 5 years (2001 to 2005). The name was chosen to honor the Shoshone woman who accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their Corps of Discovery to the Oregon Territory. They spent the winter of 1805 to 1806 near Astoria, OR.

Sacajawea is a new hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivar for the kernel market. It combines a high level of quantitative resistance to eastern filbert blight caused by the fungus Anisogramma anomala (Peck) E. Muller with excellent kernel quality and acceptable nut yields. Compared with Oregon's leading cultivar, Barcelona, Sacajawea has slightly smaller trees, slightly higher nut yield efficiency, earlier nut maturity, higher percentage of kernel (the ratio of kernel to nut weight), and better pellicle removal ratings. The excellent kernel quality is comparable to the best Italian cultivars.