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Re: seed genetics (natural and cultivated)

At 12:52 PM 3/5/98 -0800, Daniel Segal wrote:
>   <snip>   Again, probably better safe than sorry, but does anyone
>know for sure that the infusion of some slightly different genome into
>this grove will be detrimental?  Is nature as simple as that?  The
>variables are so many . . .   <snip>

I have often wondered about this - certainlyy the aim of conservationists
is to protect the gene pool of native populations which may be on their
one path towards differientiation.  It has also been documented that some
species actually die out in a given area due to a limited gene pool created
by the desctruction of most of the population through the effects of man or
natural catastrophy.  It would seem that introducing a species into an
area where it exists no longer would be preferable to NOT introducing it
there because of the lack of genetic material originally native to that
site.  It is indeed a fuzzy line, and while I commend many native plant
conservationists in their approaches, I also wonder if Dan's questions are
really being addressed.  It is just as easy to blunder in either direction
without real information from which to conclude the best approach.

In our gardens, such topics rarely go beyond the academic, but there are
populations plants in cultivation which represent strains or forms
unique and worth conserving.  I routinely take a closer look at any
group of plants that seems to exhibit unusual character, especially
where they might have been allowed to go about their business unmolested
by the casual non-observant selection of men.  I have discovered some
unusual plants over time as have some gardeners I know, and these do
find their way in to the horticultural trade at time.  They also
eventually find their way out as fads come and go.  Many, due to their
ease of culture or commonness, risk being lost altogether sine noone
will consider growing them at all (we're such 'snobs' sometimes!).  It
is worth observing, selecting and promoting plants you find worthwhile,
even if noone is listening.  Just as with John the Baptist, eventually
the word gets out!  ;-)

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
 Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
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