Re: [Aroid-l] Aroid breeding problems

From: "mossytrail" <mossytrail at hctc.com> on 2009.01.07 at 00:12:26(18876) > It isn't that uncommon in other families for self fertile > plants to reject foreign pollen - not very smart from the > point of vies of maintaining diversity, but plants are not > really noted for their long-range planning. > Actually, it is smart for maintaining diversity. If an aroid accepted pollen from every congeneric species, pretty soon the genus would have just one species -- not very diverse. Species maintain their identities by rejecting the pollen of other species. Diversity within species is instead maintained by sharing pollen among different genotypes of the same species. Where a species DOES accept pollen from another species, this can actually put its survival in danger. In the April-June 2008 issue of _Madrono_ there is an article about this: a rare, endemic evening primrose, already endangered, is now further threatened by an escaped garden species -- they are hybridizing, and the endemic is thus at risk of losing its identity. Unless the hybridization can be stopped, the two species will soon become one -- a reduction in diversity. +More Some genera have different species with different chromosome numbers. If that is true in your case, you may not be able to get around the barrier. Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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