Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:08:41 +0000 From: schlauer@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4048$foo@default> Subject: Re: P. x weser Fertility
Dear Ivan,
> The hybrid Mexican butterwort Pinguicula x weser is a cross of P.
> moranensis and ehlersae. I too have grown this plant and pollinated the
> flowers to get seed. The seed of this hybrid did prove to be viable and
> germinated well. This seems odd to me since the chromosome numbers of the
> parents are reported to be different. P. moranensis 2n = 44, P. ehlersae
> 2n = 32. Perhaps these counts are incorrect?
Wrong counts are of course always a possibility, but in this case I
think the authors (Speta & Fuchs, the first being very familiar with
chromosome counting) were quite sure. They discussed the "wrong"
placement of _P. esseriana_ in sect. Orcheosanthus in a very verbose
way, which the probably would not have done if they were not sure
about the chromosome counts.
Now the fertility of hybrids between the two groups (Orcheosanthus
and Crassifolia) calls their distinctness in question, especially as
hybrids between *really* distinct groups (_P. zecheri_ * _P. agnata_,
both with 2n=22! or _P. zecheri_ * _P. rotundiflora_) seem to be
sterile. Chromosome counts of the hybrids (F1 and F2) would be very
interesting.
> I have pollinated flowers of two other intraspecies hybrids of Mexican
> butterworts and these produced no seed. These were P. agnata X gypsicola
> and P. macrophylla? X agnata?.
This fits the data I know (v.s.).
Kind regards
Jan
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