Star Blueberry

Also known as Native Star Blueberry, this is a southern highbush blueberry with productive, moderately vigorous, upright-spreading growth habit. Flowers early (mean 50% anthesis February 25 in Gainesville), requiring frost protection. Partially self-compatible but produces earlier-ripening, larger, more abundant fruit with cross-pollination from other southern highbush cultivars like Windsor, Santa Fe, or Rebel. Later blooming habit (10 days later than some varieties) provides some frost tolerance. Excellent survival in field conditions. Best suited for Coastal Region production.

Large to very large berries with good to excellent flavor, mild and pleasant. Light blue to medium-blue color. Medium firmness. Good picking scar. Sweet with attractive calyx resembling a star (hence the name). Ripens very early with a mean mid-harvest May 1 in Gainesville, 10-14 days earlier than 'Southmoon'. Very short harvest period (3 weeks versus 8 weeks for 'Sharpblue'), concentrating harvest when market prices are highest. Young plants produce most ripe berries in 2 pickings; mature plants require up to 8 pickings. Good post-harvest quality. Suitable for hand harvest. Resistant to root and leaf diseases and Botryosphaeria stem blight, but susceptible to Septoria leaf spot.

Developed and released 1996 by legendary University of Florida breeder Dr. Paul M. Lyrene (inducted Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame 2011) and Wayne B. Sherman. FL80-31 is advanced selection from Florida breeding program selected 1980, derived from heat-tolerant Fla 4B germplasm that generated many important southern highbush cultivars including 'Biloxi', 'Emerald', 'Legacy', and 'Star'. 'O'Neal' is unpatented North Carolina State cultivar introduced 1987. Original seedling selected in high-density fruiting nursery Gainesville 1983, first propagated 1987 as FL87-139-S. Replicated test plots observed throughout north Florida and south Georgia 1989-1995.