Re: HYB: WHOLE CLOTH/inhibitor

There are three known entrances of the I-sub-s inhibitor into the garden
varieties we grow.

The primary one is Paul Cook's PROGENITOR, from a cross of a blue TB and a
dwarf Cook grew from seed which I believe I remember reading was sent to him
as *I. mellita," but which Cook reidentified as *reichenbachii* from its
visible characteristics.  There is a photo of PROGENITOR on the HIPS website
under "Quick Fix."   The accuracy of Cook's identifying of the dwarf as
*reichenbachii* is assumed.  His opinion was based on a thorough knowledge of
the species involved and has unquestioned credibility.

WHOLE CLOTH, MELODRAMA and EMMA COOK were descended from this seedling and are
the primary sources of this factor into our breeding lines.

Another entry point is from the (Sharkskin x *balkana*) seedling that appears
in some Ghio and Ben Hager pedigrees.  Those pedigrees including this seedling
identify the hybridizer, but I don't remember with certainty--I think it was
Wilma Greenlee.   It also appears to have the I-sub-s character or one very
similar to the one from Paul Cook's PROGENITOR.  There are a number of named
varieties that have the seedling in their ancestry.

The third may have been a dead end.  Jack (John E.) Goett registered MELAMOENA
from a cross of (New Snow x Chivalry) X Mellita Vande.  The IB 20" seedling
had white standards and light blue falls according to its 1960 registration
listed in the 1969 Check List.  I know of no offspring of Melamoena, but a
search in the on-line registry is in order to see if any have been registered.
I do not remember seeing Melamoena in any pedigrees.

These various clones of *reichenbachii,* *balkana* and *mellita*, the latter
now known as *I. suaveolens*, and the clone MELLITA VANDE may not have as
clear a separate identity as the names imply.  That three sources of the
inhibitor can be traced to this complex suggests there may be some taxonomic
confusion--or that the recorded species from the balkan complex have fairly
recent separations from some common ancestry.

I believe I remember Paul Cook speculated at one point that the
*reichenbachii* he grew from the supposed *mellita* seeds may have been an
accidental hybrid between the two species, or that the source of the seeds had
confused the identity of the parent plant.

My comment about "at least two" dominant amoenas in circulation with no
apparent source of the factor was intended to mean that *none* of the three
known source possibilities appear in the pedigrees or family trees.  Implied
is the observation that the published pedigrees may contain an error or
omission.  It is also possible (but unlikely) the mutation which accounts for
this factor in the balkan dwarfs has also occured in the modern TB's
independantly of its source from the three entry points mentioned above.

This dominant factor has to come from somewhere--and the three sources
mentioned above are the only possibilities known.

There was a reason for the name "WHOLE CLOTH."  I could just as well have said
"This factor doesn't just appear out of whole cloth"--except that Paul Cook
has quite deliberately evoked the impossible and it does indeed appear out of
WHOLE CLOTH.  I had to chuckle when I first saw the name and knew to what it
applied.  The humor in the name is delightful.

More than one or two old-timers looked at those Cook pedigrees and said,
"impossible!"--even with some anger.

Neil Mogensen   z  7   western NC

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index