Re: RE: Hybridizing Seed set

Just a quick comment on selfing for some who may not be clear on this
point.  This has not been made obvious from posts I've been reading
recently, and I can see where there may be some confusion.  "Bee pods" are
not synonymous with "self pollinated".  Selfing can occur naturally or may
be induced by hand pollination.  It means that seed was produced by pollen
from the same clone as the ovules (or possibly parthogenetically (?), in
which case seeds produced would be genetically identical to the mother
plant; I don't know if this occurs in Iris).  "Bee pods" (a term I never
heard until I started reading Iris postings on line!) are just any pod
produced naturally without the intentional help of the hybridizer.  In
otherwords a "bee pod" is a "normal" pod produced by natural cross
pollination, and may include selfing.  The pods every hybridizer wants most
is the ones produced intentionally by cross pollinating under controlled
conditions.  There is no real difference between a "bee pod" and a "hand
pollinated" pod other than intent (and of course perhaps the results of the
cross!).  Depending upon climate, season, and pollinators present, a "bee
pod" could be more fruitfull or less fruitfull than a hand-pollinated pod.
In my experience Mother Nature usually does a far better job of pollinating
flowers than human hands (but not always!!).  The difference in
productivity between bee pods and hand pollinated (if any) more likely has
to due with the amount and compatability of the pollen, and nothing to due
with how the pollen got there in the first place.

Dave

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