Arisaema hybrids

[Adam Fikso]

Interesting notion....beg for their food....  Do you mean-- like lichens
that subsist on what gets thrown their way?or more like saprophytes, gulls,
vultures and politicians?


I do think that we lose perspective  from time to time, and need to renew
and revisit a few bed-rock truths.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry Yinger" <asiatica at NNI.COM>
To: <ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 6:43 AM
Subject: Re: Arisaema hybrids


> Quite a few wild "species" (remember that this is strictly a human
> concept, not a plant concept) hybridize freely in the wild in disturbed
> habitats and resegregate as "species" in settled, stable habitats.
> Oaks and violets commonly do this, along with at least certain species
> in many other genera.  This intergressive hybridization and subsequent
> segregation to "species" recognized by humans can be a device to keep
> species vigorous through the introduction of new genetic information.
> Anyone who doubts the importance of this should examine the phenotypes
> on display in the British royal family.
>
> Keep in mind too that many "species" are polymorphic, that is, they
> appear in quite a wide variety of forms that don't make sense to
> humans, although the plants seem to figure it out.  Some groups of
> arisaema ("serratum" for example) don't make sense to us because our
> species concept reflects our often desperate human need for clear and
> absolute certainty in separating and labeling different kinds of things
> (not to mention people).  It is impossible to understand certain genera
> such as Asarum without a great sense of inner calm and a willingness to
> try to see this through the "eyes" of the plants.  I think that all
> taxonomists should be required to spend two years in a Buddhist
> monastery, preferably in Thailand where they will have to beg for their
> food.
>
> Barry Yinger, USDA Zone 6, Pennsylvania, USA
>