HYB: 201 -- Beard Patterns

Because interest has proven to be
limited, I've planned only two more
"lessons" about beards.  Anyone
who wishes to pursue the subject is
welcome to write to me off list.


COLORS

Any color that can appear in standards, =

falls, or style arms  seems to be
capable of appearing in the beards.
The difference is that the beard color
often appears more intense.  There's
an established belief that a pigment
which appears in beards can also
appear in the standards and falls, but
I can't attest to that from personal =

experience.

Yes,  in my arilbred seedling patch the
tangerine pink appeared first in beards
and later in the petals.  But it's subtle.

Emerald green first appeared in pollen,
then more intensely in beards -- but has =

yet to show up that intensely in standards
or falls.  An emerald-green tint to dark =

markings, yes.  A clear, bright emerald-
green -- no, not yet.  But the two seedlings =

with the best emerald beards were infertile.

Yellows and oranges appear to be a
mixture of carotenes, but always more
intense than found in the blade.  Even the =

tangerine beards usually have yellow pigments
in them as well, rather than being pure
lycopene.

Blues, blue-violets, and red-violets
come in a wide range of shades, =

as do the petals -- obviously a mixture
of anthocyanidins.....

The burgundy-to-chocolate brown family
appears to be a combination of the
two basic pigment groups.  These colors
appear in markings, too, but I have yet
to see a self with the depth of color that
shows in the beards.

"Black" beards come in red-black, burgundy-
black, brown-black, and violet-black, but
even the darkest are no blacker than the
fur of our black cat. =


One of the blackest I've obtained had one
parent with a brownish-violet beard and =

one with a gold beard.  Siblings ran the
gamut of colors between those of the
parents [none lighter] but the most striking
ones were deep burgundy, chocolate =

brown, and black-as-the-black-cat.

I've experiemented a bit with crossing
to clarify beard colors, but for the most
part I choose parents for other traits and
use the beard as a selection factor.

Next, beard patterns.....

Sharon McAllister
73372.1745@compuserve.com
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