Re: CULT:Sports--anyone?

From: Sterling Okase <sterling_o@yahoo.com>

> sterling_o@yahoo.com writes:
> << I thought when a plant sports it could be any
> part of
>  the plant i.e. flower color, leaves, branches etc.

Then storylade@aol.com replied:
> I searched for 
> the definition of them for several years...  Most 
> people didn't know the answer and it
> wasn't listed in the index 
> of The World of Iris...

Just a simple backyard mud-pie maker here, I've never
been to Harvard ...except for lunch so am not an
expert in anything.  I haven't done any real research
on what defines a sport but my impression of what I
have read seems to suggest that any part of a plant
that grows or flowers differently from the rest of the
plant is a mutation of the original plant and
considered a sport.

I know in roses, the climbers are sports of other
named varieties i.e. Climbing Peace, Climbing America,
etc. Growers/hybridizers will occasionally find a
clone in their field that has suddenly decided to grow
an exceptionally long cane or branch. They will take
"eyes" off that cane and graft them to rootstock and
only those eyes will be the climbers.

Once I found on an azalea bush where I worked, one of
the branches had become miniaturized. All the leaves,
branches and flowers on this one portion of the bush
was very, very small. I took a piece off this branch
in hopes to make it root and grow it on as bonsai. It
never rooted and eventually died.

> Isn't the white BEVERLY SILL the same except for
> color?  I've never grown it 
> and don't even know it's name. 

Yes, It's called BEVERLY IN WHITE. It was registered
by Jared Harris and introduced by Zebra Gardens in
1999. It was collected by Jared Harris in Darlene
Pinegar's Garden. I don't know much about the
circumstances when it was collected but knowing Jared,
I would say he would have authenticated that the sport
was indeed attached to the original plant. Looking at
the picture in the catalog, it looks like BEVERLY
SILLS.

> The only way
> to tell would be to 
> observe attached rhizomes blooming simultaneously,
> separate the rhizomes, and 
> then grow them for a period of time

I agree with you. Irises would be more difficult to
determine than roses or azaleas. Since in irises, all
new growth comes from the ground, I think it would be
more difficult to determine if they are truly sports
or merely stray seedlings popping up from the middle
of the clump. 

I too,suspect you would have to lift the entire clump
or at least that portion, carefully wash off the dirt
and look to see that it's attached.

> If it can be any deviation as you describe, how can
> you tell the difference 
> in this or a stray seedling?

Good question. I think all living things in their
natural course have sported/mutated/evolved in ways
that were not terribly apparent to they human eye. I
think it's the way of nature. What fun! Personally, I
am waiting to mutate/sport/evolve into someone that
has more money for irises......

Is there someone out there that knows what the true
defination of "sport" is? HELP!

Iris Maniac,
Sterling (not Innerst) ....who is going to keep an eye
on that variegated fan of Purple Streaker growing in
the garden.
Seattle, Washington, USA
Zone 8



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