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WIDESPREAD PLANT HYBRIDIZATION. "The occurrence of hybrids, here meaning offspring resulting from two genetically distinct groups of organisms, has been known to taxonomists for a long time. Despite ongoing debate about the overall evolutionary importance of hybridization, the process has been shown to be widespread and relatively common in plants, occurring across many different families and floras." https://lnkd.in/dK-A3iM View in LinkedIn

ADAPTIVE OPTION. "Clonal populations often persist in habitats in which sexual reproduction is prevented, either because of the absence of mating partners, or where ecological conditions are unfavorable for seed set, seed germination, or seedling establishment." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/29/8859.full View in LinkedIn

SONG OF DARWIN. "The more I study nature, the more I become impressed […] that the contrivances and beautiful adaptations [acquired through natural selection] transcend in an incomparable degree [those] which the most fertile imagination of the most imaginative man could suggest with unlimited time at his disposal." https://lnkd.in/eykUy37 View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE for this and next weekend focuses on the vexing issue of hybrids, starting with a case study of hybrid rhododendrons, and then to animal hybrids. The transition into a species for a population, which is generally unable to breed with organisms outside that species, is a central tenet of evolutionary theory. But the case study shows that this assignment can be more difficult than it seems. View in LinkedIn

HETEROSTYLY AND SELF. “The morph phenotype is genetically linked to genes responsible for a unique system of self-incompatibility, termed heteromorphic self-incompatibility, that is, the pollen from a flower on one morph cannot fertilize another flower of the same morph.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterostyly View in LinkedIn

“HERKOGAMY is a common strategy employed by hermaphroditic angiosperms to reduce sexual interference between male (anthers) and female (stigma) function. Herkogamy differs from other such strategies (e.g. dichogamy) by supplying a spatial separation of the anthers and stigma.” https://lnkd.in/dAT6_q2 View in LinkedIn

INDEX OF HYBRIDITY. "One of the objectives of this study was to assess how the two morphological characters ‘stamen hairs’ and ‘style hair-coverage’ behave with regards to a mixed genetic background. Therefore, it was desirable to assign an index of hybridity to each intermediate individual." https://lnkd.in/dK-A3iM View in LinkedIn

Barely hits major news feeds. View in LinkedIn

EXHAUSTIVE PLANT PHENOTYPING. Characters that were measured for R. delavayi , R. irroratum and intermediates. Leaf length. Leaf width. Distance apex-mid. Petiole length. Flowers in inflorescence. Corolla width. Corolla length. Distance anther-stigma. Style length. Style hair-cover. Stigma width. Bark. Indumentum. Corolla colour. Nectar pouches. Maculation. Stamen hairs. Ovary hairs. Ovary glands. Style colour. Style hairs. https://lnkd.in/dK-A3iM View in LinkedIn

UNEVEN PLANT HYBRIDIZATION. "There is strong evidence that hybridization does not occur uniformly across all plant families, and hence spontaneous hybridization seems to be more prevalent in certain families and genera. A group with high levels of natural hybridization is Rhododendron. The genus has more than 1000 species, many of which are interfertile." https://lnkd.in/dK-A3iM View in LinkedIn