Re Triploids

I am not a geneticist so please correct me if I present faulty information.
Several mentions have been made that triploids are sterile and therefore a
dead-end in hybridizing. I believe that there are examples in the
intermediate class which make this statement not strictly true. Is it more
accurate to say that the work is difficult and frustrating but not impossible?

Lily (here I go again) triploids are generally unreceptive to diploid pollen
but they generally will produce seeds from tetraploid pollen. The seed set
will often be low but there usually will be viable seed. Sometimes (perhaps
the norm) in these crosses will be the production of a normal embryo but the
will be a lack of sufficient endosperm to allow full germination. In these
cases, embryo rescue techniques may be successful. Not being one who
worships at the altar of tetraploidy, I find that the triploids often
exhibit the best characteristics of both.

Now to warp my argument a bit, has conversion to tetraploidy been attempted
for I korolkowii? 

John Montgomery
monashee@bcgrizzly.com
Vernon, BC
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