Betr: Re: Arisaema hybrids

[Tony Avent]

Wilbert:

One of the projects that we have undertaken is to de-specify many of the
plants that we grow.  When we obtain plants as species X, we will self
polinate the plant or cross it to another identical clone if necessary to
obtain seed.  It is fairly obvious when we grow out the offspring which
plants are "good species" and which are hybrids.  This is why we need to
get taxonomists to grow more live plants and study the range of a species
in the wild.  For a horticulturist to have a good hybridizing program, you
must first start with good species.

I do think cultivars should be included in taxonomic works if the
parentage can be traced.  The problem is that hybridization itself renders
most definitions of species invalid.  The taxonomic community already has a
bounty on my head for that and similar remark.

Some cultivars obviously will not compete outside of a maintained
environment while others will evolve into species that will establish and
self-sufficient population.  Species and natural hybrids come and go all
the time.  Other species will survive until their environment changes and
they too will vanish...remember the dinosaurs.

We can debate the intent of breeding ad infinitum, but it all goes back to
a view of man's place in nature.  Some people put man above nature while
others put nature above man.  This religious debate is beyond the scope of
this forum.

Is a car natural?  Interesting thought.  In the Plant, Animal, Mineral,
Fungi, etal. categorization, it would definitely fall into mineral.
Perhaps we had best stick to living entities here.


Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, NC  27603  USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony at plantdelights.com
website  http://www.plantdel.com
phone 919 772-4794
fax  919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least
three times" - Avent