For a long time I've been curious about the nature of hybridisation - the phenomenon of two distinct varieties or species crossing with each other to form an entirely new and unique offspring.
Much myth and misunderstanding surrounds hybridisation - at school I wonder if children are still taught the wildly inaccurate assertion that a defining characteristic of a hybrid is its inability to produce its own offspring...
That is certainly not true in most cases in the plant world. Even F1 hybrids produce fertile seed, despite the popular misconception that they are sterile. Their seed merely produce very varied and unpredictable offspring (with which a plant breeder may treat as a challenge to produce something new and interesting...).
But in this case, what I'm most interested in is the possibilities of hybridisation in Forest Garden Plants - edible and medicinal perennial species. There seems to me startlingly little research in this department considering the vast possibilities involved, and the fascinating success stories from parts of the world where people have delved into such experiments...
Examples that are most widely known are those from the breeding programmes of Eastern Europe - especially Russia, Crimea, and ex-Yugoslavia. These have produced such delights as the 'Shipova Pear' - a cross between a Whitebeam (Sorbus Aria) and the European Pear (Pyrus Communis). The resulting fruit is certainly very easy on the eye, and though mine hasn't started cropping yet (they can take a while!), the fruits are said to be delicious, similar in taste to a Nashi (or Asian) Pear.
Sorbus species don't seem to mind who they pear with - even hybridising with members of the Malus, Craetaegus and Amelanchier genera too. The potential for further useful and interesting crosses are surely vast...
Another interesting cross is in a genus that's attracting lots of interest in temperate forest gardening - the Diospyrus tribe. Although the Kaki or Sharon Fruit (D.Kaki) is the better known member of the genus, it's fruits can only be grown successfully in Zone 7 or milder climates, which have reasonably hot summers. In the UK that confines decent cropping mainly to the South-East, and then probably only in good summers. Yet other members of the genus - D.Virginiana and D.Lotus are much more cold hardy, and able to crop in less favourable conditions.
The cross between D.Kaki and D.Virginiana has produced some very interesting cultivars, including: Nikita's Gift, Russian Beauty and Mount Goverla. These bear fruits similar in size to the true Kaki (which are 10x the size of D.Virginiana fruits), yet can survive the cold Ukranian winters where they are bred and can apparently crop even in the cooler summers that we have in south west England. I can see them catching on pretty quickly!
There is also an interest from the point of view of pollination. In small gardens, one may not wish to plant a second member of one species merely for the purpose of pollination. Members of the walnut (Juglans) family for example can take up a lot of space in the garden - yet the different species (J.Cinerea x J.Ailantifolia for example) have been known to hybridise. Does this mean it would be possible to just have one specimin of each tree and still get adequate pollination? Surely more research needs to be done on this, and it is my hope that articles like this might stimulate some further discussion on this curious topic.
Other genera I'd very interested to learn about cross-pollination and hybridisation in include Hippophae, Actinidia, Amelanchier, Citrus / Poncirus and Gaultheria.
If you have any experience or knowledge of such experiments or naturally occuring hybridisation, I'd be delighted to hear back from you!
Please do write in to symbiosisnursery@gmail.com or leave a comment here to share your own anecdotes. Thank you...
Much myth and misunderstanding surrounds hybridisation - at school I wonder if children are still taught the wildly inaccurate assertion that a defining characteristic of a hybrid is its inability to produce its own offspring...
That is certainly not true in most cases in the plant world. Even F1 hybrids produce fertile seed, despite the popular misconception that they are sterile. Their seed merely produce very varied and unpredictable offspring (with which a plant breeder may treat as a challenge to produce something new and interesting...).
But in this case, what I'm most interested in is the possibilities of hybridisation in Forest Garden Plants - edible and medicinal perennial species. There seems to me startlingly little research in this department considering the vast possibilities involved, and the fascinating success stories from parts of the world where people have delved into such experiments...
 |
| The Shipova Pear: Whitebeam's love affair with a Pear! |
Sorbus species don't seem to mind who they pear with - even hybridising with members of the Malus, Craetaegus and Amelanchier genera too. The potential for further useful and interesting crosses are surely vast...
Another interesting cross is in a genus that's attracting lots of interest in temperate forest gardening - the Diospyrus tribe. Although the Kaki or Sharon Fruit (D.Kaki) is the better known member of the genus, it's fruits can only be grown successfully in Zone 7 or milder climates, which have reasonably hot summers. In the UK that confines decent cropping mainly to the South-East, and then probably only in good summers. Yet other members of the genus - D.Virginiana and D.Lotus are much more cold hardy, and able to crop in less favourable conditions.
The cross between D.Kaki and D.Virginiana has produced some very interesting cultivars, including: Nikita's Gift, Russian Beauty and Mount Goverla. These bear fruits similar in size to the true Kaki (which are 10x the size of D.Virginiana fruits), yet can survive the cold Ukranian winters where they are bred and can apparently crop even in the cooler summers that we have in south west England. I can see them catching on pretty quickly!
 |
| D.'Nikita's Gift' was one of the first Persimmon Hybrids which are now becoming more common |
Other genera I'd very interested to learn about cross-pollination and hybridisation in include Hippophae, Actinidia, Amelanchier, Citrus / Poncirus and Gaultheria.
If you have any experience or knowledge of such experiments or naturally occuring hybridisation, I'd be delighted to hear back from you!
Please do write in to symbiosisnursery@gmail.com or leave a comment here to share your own anecdotes. Thank you...
 | |
| The Devon Whitebeam or 'Devon Sorb Apple' is a naturally occuring hybrid between Whitebeam and Wild Service Tree. Its resulting fruits may be more useful than either of its parents, and have even been sold commercially in the past. New Sorbus Hybrids are still arising today! |
Very interesting!
ReplyDelete