Re: HYB: Maternal inheritance

Yes, complicated indeed.  Plus there are so many other things to
consider that make my sample non-random, skewed by environmental factors
that may (or may not) result in more difficult germination:

(1) Pods here rarely have a full batch of seeds - if there are only 40
or 50 seeds in a pod, are those 50 a representative sample of all
population of seeds possible from that cross?  Seems unlikely.

And germination from all of my crosses is typically low, even in a
"good" cross - often less than 30% in three seasons of chilling.  What
else is going on with those seeds that don't ever germinate - were those
the 'easy' to germinate seeds that just can't live at all here in the
vale?

Several years ago, I sent a note to Paul Black, asking his experiences
when he was trying to hybridize in another part of iris hell
(Oklahoma?).  He told me (I hope I'm not mis-quoting him) that he also
had poor seed set and poor germination until he started getting his own
lines going. I'm already seeing much higher numbers of seeds per pod in
my own seedlings - too soon to tell if I am also going to see higher
germination percentages or if they germinate more easily.

(2) No reason that one or even a few genes or sets of genes would
regulate ease of germination, is there?  Seems like there could be a
bunch of them, some maybe linked with overall survivability here,
dominant ones, recessive ones, synergistic ones, additive, interfering,
etc etc all related to the stuff you mention, Neil, plus the "unknown
unknowns".

(3) Worst of all, if ability to live here and that even more rare
quality of being fertile here is linked to difficulty to germinate (one
or more mechanisms, maybe multiple genes and doses of genes), the
samples get more and more skewed in succeeding generations.

Definitely counting chickens before they hatch, but I've been curious
about this whole issue of survivability here and difficulty of
germination ever since Ghio's STARRING, one of those delayed germination
seedlings that he would have thrown away if he hadn't been so busy,
turned out to be such a hit at Memphis.

Been wondering ever since if plants from delayed germination are better
adapted to our climate.  Most of the west coast hybridizers don't hold
seeds over a second season.

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
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online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

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