Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: Tarzanus on January 15, 2021, 04:34:11 PM
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I have got a snowdrop with some orange. Anyone seen anything like it?
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Is it pollen grains smeared onto the petals via bees coming and going?
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No, only one clump shows it, and it's there when the flower is still closed. Also, you can see the pattern, pollen smear would not be symetric as that. Some of snowdrops from the same clump have half the orange spots (still, pretty symetric, just with one spot on inner petal instead of two). I guess it fades away when pollinated with regular Galanthus and those are its seedlings.
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Could it be aberrant anther production?
In some double snowdrops where the inner 'petals' are actually petaloid stamens you can see this effect as a streak of pollen producing tissue across the margin of the 'petal'.
If it is that the yellow bit should be marginally thicker than the surrounding petal.
Chad
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After a bit of a hunt I've found a picture (https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1049179/view) to illustrate aberrant anther tissue. Often it is a streak down the 'petal' but can be a line across the edge.
Not all doubles do this, some have what looks like real anthers admixed with the inner petals.
I haven't seen it on a single before, but I can't think of a reason why it couldn't happen.
Chad
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I'm pretty sure this is aberrant anther tissue on the single flower. Nature can be very odd.
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Could it be aberrant anther production?
In some double snowdrops where the inner 'petals' are actually petaloid stamens you can see this effect as a streak of pollen producing tissue across the margin of the 'petal'.
If it is that the yellow bit should be marginally thicker than the surrounding petal.
Chad
I think the same thing... I haven't seen it yet so far, though. :)
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I'm pretty sure this is aberrant anther tissue on the single flower. Nature can be very odd.
I agree
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Assuming the trait is stable that gives us a whole new set of cultivars to breed!
Chad
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First I noticed it 2 years ago, then last year again - at that point I ruled out pollen deposit. I also noticed snowdrops with half the amount of orange, which leads me to believe, there was some crossing involved and they are fertile (they produce seeds too, but so far I always lost the battle against slugs). These photos are from last year, I'll see what happens this year in two months max. Depends on our weather.
I'll be a bit more protective this year and possibly try a few pollination tests. It would be really nice to further improve this treat and possibly implement it into other Galanthus cultivars.