Re: Re: Iris abicans

My understanding is that Albicans is a triploid(Simmott) and that triploid pollen is even less fertile then egg cells. The triploidy is apparently what restricts the fertility. I would think self pollination would be near impossible.

Has anyone observed bees actually visiting albicans flowers?

Chuck Chapman


"David Ferguson" <manzano57@msn.com> wrote:

>Chuck,
>
>This sounds reasonable to me.  I. albicans probably represents an unusual color among its wild relatives, and it seems reasonable that such a plant might be at a disadvantage when it comes to pollination.  My plants do occasionally set bee pods, but they only have a few mostly scrawny seeds in them.
>
>I. albicans is very similar to I. x germanica, and has a similar chromosome makeup to these and many cultivar IB's.  It seems likely that it has similar origins to I. x germanica clones, and similar if not the same parentage.  [Personally, I don't understand why it isn't considered as a cultivar of I. x germanica???]  It should be of reduced fertility, but like I. x germanica clones, it does make pods and apparently fertile seeds sometimes.  It would be very interesting to see the offspring from self pollination of I. albicans (if self pollination is possible?).  It clearly carries the genes for expression of anthocyanin, since it sometimes reverts to "blue", and it would be interesting to see if there is any indication among the offspring as to what it's parents might be.
>
>Dave
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: irischap<i*@netscape.net>
>  To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com<i*@yahoogroups.com>
>  Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 9:40 AM
>  Subject: [iris-species] Re: Iris abicans
>
>
>
>  There had been some discusion last year re fertility of albicans
>  because there were no bee pods with lots of opportunity. It turned out
>  to be fertile by hand pollination.
>
>  A theory re this;
>  Albicans was propicated and distributed by some arab cultures as
>  sacred and as a plant to place on a grave. The pollinator of choice
>  for iris are bees. Bees need a signal to attract them to flowers. This
>  usually is a dark anthocyanin signal in center of flower or a path
>  signalsuch as the veining on Iris variegata.  Barring this they need a
>  signal that is visable in infrared light. It would seem it lacks any
>  of these signals to attract bees.
>  On this line a number of the iris plants in the wild lacking these
>  signals would have almost no offspring and would only be propagated by
>  rhizome propagation as seems to have happened with albicans, in this
>  case as the white flower had religious significance to som humans.
>
>  Does this make any sense?
>
>  Chuck Chapman
>

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