Yes. Can be done. But for a limited time. Sorting out eventually
throws cultivars to one form or the other. Sutton's did this a few
years ago with a cultivar. They did get it to go either three or four
cycles. That is the best I've heard of.
The ones with chloroplast variations, having variegated foliage, can
be maintained just about forever through vegetative reproduction. But
need to cull out plants were there is 100% sorting out in one
direction or the other.
Chuck Chapman
-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Zera zera@umich.edu [iris-species]
<iris-species@yahoogroups.com>
To: iris-species <iris-species@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, Feb 7, 2015 9:20 pm
Subject: Re: [iris-species] unusual forms in species
Yes, the terminology seems to have changed to broadly encompass any
situation where part of the tissue of a plant differs, including lack
of chlorophyll or different ploidy level. As far as I know, there
aren't any iris cultivars, with the exception of those with variegated
leaves, that are chimeras.
I'm a huge fan of graft-chimeras, where the tissue of two different
species coexists in the same plant. Showy examples
includeÂ+Laburnocytisus, Citrus 'Bizzaria', andÂsome truly ridiculous
cacti:Â+OrtegopuntiaÂandÂ+Myrtillocalycium.
I have seen this where it was in floral meristem, and then you get a
number of flowers on stalk with same pattern but this is very rare.
Is it possible to propagate irises vegetatively from inflorescences to
preserve such a mutation?
Sean Z
