Betr: Re: arisaema hybrids

[pbruggeman at TISCALI.NL]

Bonaventure,

Preserving genes through hybrids is a very controversial subject and most=
people dealing with conservation see it as a last resort (last to pollina=ting
son with mother). I personally would not favor that option but that is ju=st
my 2 cents.... Once hybridized the "pure" gene is lost, no matter how man=y
back-crosses one intends to make and I see more possibilities in pollen
exchange among collectors with a heart for conservation (or species) or
looking into the possibilities of storing pollen for later attempts. Also=
tissue culture can be a great way to increase stock and I am glad Tony Av=ent
and also friends of mine in India are using that method.

Most Chinese species we treasure are dug up from the wild by local farmer=s
so if we can first increase the number of plants and come to the point wh=ere
we don't need more new imports I would have far less problems with hybrid=ization.
I have been doing Arisaema-fieldwork for a number of years in India now
and believe me, the natural habitats are disappearing rapidly. Friends wh=o
have been to China report the same thing so we might come to the point wh=ere
species only survive in collections. We don't want to end up with a situa=tion
like Cyanocrocus do we? Of course some species are very easy to propagate=
or not rare (yet) but I will always have problems with using rarer specie=s
for hybridization (not that that is of your concern). Sigh....

As for sikokianum, in pot cultivation it is very long lived, I have one
that is 12 years old. Just like some other species it dies in the open be=cause
it can't stand the winter wet so wouldn't a cold frame or a piece of glas=s
above it in the winter be an easier option?

Pascal


>-- Oorspronkelijk bericht --
>Date:         Wed, 26 May 2004 20:37:50 -0400
>Reply-To:     "Arisaema Enthusiast Group (AEG) Discussion List (and othe=r
>hardy              Aroids)" <ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL>
>From:         Bonaventure W Magrys <magrysbo at SHU.EDU>
>Subject: Re: arisaema hybrids
>To:           ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL
>
>
>I just came to Pascal's post. Yes, documentation is stressed again. Anot=her
>thing - what about goals? When I crossed tortuosum onto saxatile, I knew=
>the flowers had a similar shape, but I am looking for a paler tortuosum,=
>though it may be smaller, or more robust saxatile. After several
>generations of selective breeding - sib crosses and back crosses, hell
I
>may even get an Arisaema like a white tortuosum with a pleasant fragranc=e!
>If my surviving plantlets were apomictally produced, well, I would be ab=le
>to tell in the F1 generation (or be able to test that hypothesis ) and
I
>would have a few more saxatile anyway. Since I had only 1 clone of
>saxatile, I did not allow it to self-cross with some of the male
>inflorescences in the same clump, but have saved some of its genetic
>material (or all) anyway.
>
>The tortuosum had a lot of pollen to spare, but in the case of my wilson=ii,
>I only had 1 clone again, and only 1 bloom, male. How else to preserve
some
>of its genetic material but by attempting to place it on the
>well-distributed and, available to me, triphyllum, franchetianum, and
>ringens. The pollen was divided up several ways, and at least one of the=
>attempts fortunately took because sadly the wilsonii did not reappear th=is
>year.
>
>Whether or not I have a hybrid of it, I still would like to get another
>wilsonii some day. Just like it was great to have the hybrid Paphiopedil=um
>Prince Edward of York for all the years that its parent Paphiopedilum
>sanderianum was lost, a good Paph collection would still include that
>species as well as Paph. rothchildianum, the other parent of that cross.=
>
>Bonaventure


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