SPEC: Iris from seed

A couple of years ago we began growing Iris species from the West
Coast and eastern Asia. All our plants are from seed and most of that
seed is wild-collected. We have noticed that some spp. grow faster
and look fuller than others, but until now we have assumed that
shorter or spindlier plants represent spp. that are just different,
or perhaps later-maturing. A note by Adele and Lewis Lawyer, however,
makes us wonder if some of these plants might not be a trifle inbred.
The note is in the current Almanac of the Society for Pacific Coast
Native Iris and here is an extract:

"This year we grew ... 37 pure [PCNI] species seedlings (now 2nd-year
clones). Of these, by far the poorest growers were the species which
had been grown from seed collected in the wild where they had
interbred for centuries. This weakness is very apparent in clones up
to 6 years of age which are still just barely hanging on, and in the
fact that less than half of the 37 species seedlings lived to see
their second year. Interspecies crosses made by Gene Loop performed
normally even though both of the parents were weak, and several
clones of species from garden-grown seed are growing like mad. 

"I don't know if others have found this to be true, but it does sound
reasonable that plants from seed gathered in the wild where all the
surrounding plants were related, would lack hybrid vigor. I remember
that one of the two inbreds that produced Del Monte's prize sweet
corn hybrid was so weak that it was a major production problem. In
our planting of named varieties and pure species, the difference was
startling. At the end of the first year all the named clones had
clumped with leaves a foot or so long while the best species plant
had three 4-inch leaves." 

Comments from geneticists and growers would be most welcome. I must
say that we have had excellent germination and have lost very few
seedlings between years 1 and 2. It is true, though, that while II.
setosa and ensata are threatening to take over the nursery, lots of
our
2nd-year PCNI plants are only 4-6 inches tall. 

Paige Woodward
pwoodwar@rapidnet.net
Pacific Rim Native Plants
On top of Chilliwack Mountain in southwestern British Columbia
Wet Zone 6
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