More about GAY STRIPES

Walter Moores wrote:

:	So, with GAY STRIPES  1/4 + 1/4 = 1/4

First, we should not interpret the "one-fourth onco" phrase as used in the
fifties to mean exactly the same as "one-fourth onco" would mean using today's
modified chromosome-set classification system.  

To put this in historical perspective, C.G. White grouped his breeding stock in
several series.  According to White's records, members of the "E" series were
"known to have onco in them" and after 1942 he redefined them as "E equals pogon
influence predominant".  This was on the basis of their appearance, not
chromosome counts.  From studying White's records, Tom Wilkes concluded that on
a "percentage basis the 'E' hybrids can be reckoned as of 1/4 Aril blood" [ASI
1959 YB].   

So Tell Muhlestein's catalog description just identifies them as E-types.  No
one knew their chromosome-set composition.  Tell also wrote that GAY STRIPES
"pods easily" -- which is not characteristic of chromosome-set quarterbreds.
Today we know that these were from complex lines --  the type of crosses that
can produce functional, chromosome-set halfbreds even when the quantum content
is closer to 1/4.  Many of White's "E' series were partially fertile -- some
more so than others, of course.  But  these were usually used in crosses with
members of other series rather than being intercrossed.  From my own experiments
with wide crosses I'd say it is highly likely that at least one of those unknown
parents was a functional halfbred -- as GAY STRIPES itself might well be.

This is not sheer speculation.  When the older recorded arilbreds were
reassessed, the fully fertile C.G. White arilbreds were coded as halfbreds even
though their exact ancestry was unknown.  And GAY STRIPES was classified a
halfbred, as well.  That suggests to me that someone had made test crosses with
it, or counted its chromosomes.

:	What experimentation do you have in mind for GAY STRIPES?

I'd expect offspring from a crosses involving two of C.G. White's E-series
breeders to include both chromosome-set halfbreds and chromosome-set
quarterbreds.  The first objective of test crosses would be to determine which
type GAY STRIPES really is.  Conventionally, this has been done by crossing the
candidate with both TBs and proven halfbreds.  If it gives full pods of good
seeds when paired with halfbreds and full pods with a reasonable percentage of
good seeds when paired with TBs, it may be assumed to be a halfbred. 

As long as we're talking hypothetically, though, I can assume bounteous bloom on
GAY STRIPES and a vast array of potential partners -- so I'd also test it with
1/4-breds,  3/4-breds and tetraploid arils.  If it's a halfbred, it may produce
a few seedlings when paired with each of these types.  The 1/4-bred X 1/4-bred
and 1/4-bred X 3/4-bred crosses rarely take, but 1/4-breds crossed with
tetraploid arils often set full pods, with fairly good germination of the seeds.
And a high percentage of those seedlings prove fully fertile.

So why bother with something so old?????  Not idle curiousity, I assure you.
These test crosses COULD produce seedlings with real potential....  

Tell gave a more detailed description than the '59 Checklist:
"Fancy plicata. Standards are silvery grey, falls same with violet lines which
radiate over falls like the marking of some exotic butterfly."

Sounds a lot like the highly recessive pattern once dubbed the susiana-bred.  An
intricate one, not as popular as the more attention-demanding signal -- but one
I find quite fascinating.

So for the TB tests, I'd pair it with plicatas -- preferably pink-ground ones.
For the halfbred tests, I'd use veined ones proven to be enthusiastic parents.
Like LASTING LEGACY, PURE AT HEART, MY JOY, and ROSE COLORED GLASSES.  For
3/4-bred tests, proven ones like WHIRLWIND ROMANCE or TRIBE OF JUDAH.  For
tetraploid arils, WERCKMEISTER'S BEAUTY, BALLALAIKA MUSIC, or any of the veined
Holden or Norris seedlings.

Sharon McAllister (73372.1745)
who can always think up more crosses to make than resources permit
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