Strawberry plant named 'Canterbury'

The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants '9A264' (unpatented variety) and 'Balboa' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,130) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered as a seedling in a controlled breeding plot, in Ventura County, Calif. in February 1996. The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated by stolons in McArthur, Shasta County, Calif. 'Canterbury' was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing in Ventura County, Calif. for three years. This propagation and testing has demonstrated that the combination of traits disclosed herein which characterize the new variety are fixed and retained true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction. This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named 'Canterbury'. The variety is similar to the varieties 'Coronada' and 'San Miguel'. The variety is distinguished from 'Coronado' and 'San Miguel', in particular, by its upright to globose habit, very strong plant vigor, high density, obtuse shape of the terminal leaflet base, medium to dense petiole pubescence, its inflorescence being positioned level with the leaves, very slight to slight difference in the shapes of the primary and secondary fruits, absent or very weak unevenness of surface, strong sweetness, and fine texture when tasted.