In a message dated 10/3/04 6:15:17 AM, Roy writes: > The genuine plant from the wild is one of the worst flowers you could see > for an Odont whereas the clones of today have the equal or better shape than > some of the best hybrids. > This of course is done by selective breeding over a long period of time. > As suggested by many, ' we are improving on nature rather than wait for > nature to do it.' I always ask how far we can go before we have actually created > a hybrid? > I don't know why this question comes up periodically. The answer is obvious. People have been breeding dogs for 10,000 years. A Boston terrier does not look much like a Saint Bernard or a borzoi, but they are still the same pure species. The catch with orchids is that there are ostensibly pure line-bred Odm. crispums or V. coeruleas which actually contain some genetic material from other species. They are introgressed, if not actually hybrids. The only way to be absolutely sure is through DNA analysis. But once & for all, if you line-breed a pure species for a thousand years, you still have a species, not a hybrid, no matter what it looks like. Iris Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
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