Single-Species Oncobreds

Arilbreds are often described in terms of aril characteristics attributable to individual aril species, but modern cultivars typically have aril ancestry traceable to more than one species so it's difficult to link visible traits with certain species. One solution is to collect and observe single-species arilbreds. The original first-generation crosses between aril species and TBs provide obvious, easy-to-identify examples of species traits – if you can find them. There are also a number of second-generation crosses that have only one aril species in their ancestry.

The following lists are not comprehensive.  They were compiled over 25 years ago for a few species of special interest, drawing on information in the 1976 Checklist.  

 

I. gatesii

The following varieties came from William Mohr, whose partial fertility became widely known.  While imposters have been distributed in the past 30 years, I've found no evidence that labeling errors affected these early introductions.   I. gatesii was especially valued for its size and wide form, and if these flowers are compared to TBs of the period, its influence can be readily seen. In the absence of a chromosome count, all are presumed triploids.   In theory, any could be used with a modern TB to produce a quarterbred with a full set of . I. gatesii chromosomes. In practice, their fertility is limited and it would probably take many crosses to attain the desired results.

Alta Mohr (Paul, 1948)  William Mohr X Alta California.

Amohr (Tompkins, 1946)  William Mohr X Sass 40-306.

Barrimohr (Miller, 1940)  William Mohr X Unknown

Bella Mohr (Ohl, 1955)  William Mohr X Sable

Blumohr (Marx, 1949)  William Mohr X Orloff

British Empire (Aylett, NR, introduced in 1934)  William Mohr X Pride of Wagga

Casino (Plough, 1953)  William Mohr X Firecracker

Colossal (Marx, 1948)  William Mohr X El Capitan

Easter Mohr (Weidner, 1949)  William Mohr X Easter Morn

Elmohr (Loomis-Long, 1942)  William Mohr X Red Seedling

Evermohr (Rakow, 1947)  William Mohr X City of Lincoln

Gaymohr (Green, 1957)  William Mohr X Winter Carnival

Grace Mohr (Jory, 1935)  William Mohr X Unknown TB

Gray Mohr (Muhlestein, 1956)  William Mohr X (Alta California x King Midas)

Green Mohr (Muhlestein, 1949)  William Mohr X Chosen

Gros Grain (Craig, 1950)  William Mohr X (Purissima x Gudrun)

Kulinor (Crawford, 1965)  William Mohr X Pink Lace

Laurel Hill (Plough, 1948)  William Mohr X (Esplendido x Bruno)

Marbled Mohr (Muhlestein, 1958)  William Mohr X ((Midwest x Madame Louis Aureau) x Aldura).

Mardin (Lincoln, 1954)  William Mohr X Seedling

Master Neil (Jensen-Muhlestein, 1952)  William Mohr X Stained Glass

Mohr Affair (Walker, 1952)  William Mohr X Golden Majesty

Mohr Courageous (Naylor, 1953)  William Mohr X TB Seedling

Mohrdyke (Aylett, 1946)  William Mohr X  W. R. Dykes

Mohr Majesty (Walker, 1949)  William Mohr X Golden Majesty

Mohrson (White, 1934)   William Mohr X Unknown

Mohr Symphony (Gaylon, 1952)  William Mohr X Violet Symphony

Mount Mazama (Bailey, 1953)  William Mohr X Morocco

My Day (Tharp, 1942)  William Mohr X Los Angeles

New Look (Johnson, 1951)  William Mohr X Bruno (probably)

N. J. Thomas (Thomas, 1944)  William Mohr X El Capitan

Onliwon (Wild, 1954)  (W. R. Dykes x Adobe) X William Mohr

Ormohr (Kleinsorge, 1937)  William Mohr X Anakim.  Counted as a 46-chromosome ABBB-type quarterbred.

Purissamohr (Weidner, 1949)  William Mohr X (Purissima x Easter Morn)

Sikh-mohr (Weidner, 1949)  William Mohr X (Dauntless x Sikh)

Soquel (Reinelt, 1940)  William Mohr X Sunol

Spring Violet (Holmberg, 1959)  William Mohr X Ariel

Suez (Schreiner, 1944)  William Mohr X Madame Louis Aureau

Vici Lynn Reed (Savage, 1966)  Golden Eagle X William Mohr

 

I. iberica

Once fully fertile amphidiploids were available, it became possible to produce true chromosome-set quarterbreds by crossing them with tetraploid TBs. The following came from Ib-Mac, any are still worth growing, simply to see examples of aril traits that are inheritable from I. iberica:

Alpine Halo (Brown, 1966)  (Green Halo x Snow Elf) X Ib-Mac

Anine (Knopf, 1956)  Snow Flurry X Ib-Mac

Argyll Lass (Street, 1963)  (Adornment x Sulina) X Ib-Mac

Aril Lady (Danielson, 1975)  Katherine Tiffany X Ib-Mac

Beautiful Dreamer (Reynolds, 1965)  (Convention Queen x 53-51) X Ib-Mac

Cinna Mac (Hopson, 1956)  (Tiffany x White Ruffles) X Ib-Mac

Dance of Spring (Burbridge, 1959)  White Ruffles X Ib-Mac

Hidden Secret (Nichols, 1974)  Eye Shadow X Ib-Mac

Moonchild (Craig, 1955)  Moon Goddess X Ib-Mac

Persian Pattern (Craig, 1950)  Gay Senorita X Ib-Mac

Silver Charm (Craig, 1948)  Purissima X Ib-Mac

Somewhere (Wall, 1963)  Pink Formal X Ib-Mac

 

I. paradoxa

Arilarians have long known this species as an interesting novelty, but few have considered its form desirable for hybridizing.  

Lady Lilford (Sir Michael Foster, NR, introduced by 1916)  I. paradoxa X I. pallida.  This was introduced before the registration system was adopted.  After it had established its reputation for fertility, it was counted as a 46-chromosome tetraploid.  The catch is that this is not a logical composition for its pedigree.  If both parents had produced unreduced gametes, the count should be 44 chromosomes.  If the reported fertility was actually that of an imposter, the 46-chromosome count can be explained in at least two ways.  For example, an unreduced I. paradoxa gamete could have combined with a normal gamete from one of the early 52-chromosome TBs.  Or an unreduced gamete of a diploid I. paradoxa offspring could have combined with a normal gamete of a 48-chromosome TB.  In any case, both the "Lady Lilford" that was used in hybridizing and the one that was counted probably did come from I. paradoxa because its tendency to produce small falls was well-known and any purported first-generation offspring without this trait would surely have been questioned.

I've been able to identify two quantum-system quarterbreds registered from Lady Lilford. Although I have not seen either of them, if they still exist they should provide insight into the inheritability of traits from I. paradoxa.

Cactiforium (Aylett, NR, introduced 1932)  Alcazar X Lady Lilford

Emily Pyke (Aylett, NR, introduced 1933)  Kashmir White X Lady Lilford

 

Diploid offspring of I. paradoxa also provide valuable source material for genetic experiments. 

For example:

Par-Pall (Sir Michael Foster, NR)  Introduced before the registration system was adopted.  This has contributed genes to the modern arilbreds through its offspring, Don Ricardo.  

Don Ricardo (Rosenzweig, 1964).  Par-Pall X Ib-Mac.  I have not yet found a chromosome count, but this is either an unusually fertile triploid or a fully fertile amphidiploid that resulted from an unreduced gamete of the pod parent.  Note that this also includes chromosomes from I. iberica, so it's not a single-species oncobred but has been a valuable breeder.

 

I. susiana

From Zwanenburg, which was counted as an amphidiploid, there were a number of quarterbreds derived solely from I. susiana. Although this species has a well-deserved reputation for being recessive, it's dotting and veining sometimes show through in its offspring.

Brownie (Douglas, 1954)  (Minnie Colquitt x pumila) X Zwanenburg

Buffon (Baker, 1938)  BDB X Zwanenburg

Butterfly Wings (White, NR, Introduced 1946)  (Pink Jadu X I. susiana) X (Theme x Sacramento)

Califa Dotu (Graves, 1970)  Knotty Pine X Zwanenburg

Green Glory (Green, 1939)   Leota X Zwanenburg

Mohresque (Keith, 1949)  Doa (probably) X Zwanenburg

Mt. Kosciusko (Aylett, 1933)  Kashmir White X Zwanenburg

Probably the best-known, as well as the most controversial of these, is Butterfly Wings. C. G. White registered a TB with that name in 1946, but apparently did not introduce it. Lloyd Austin listed a quarterbred, with complete pedigree, under that name during the period in which arilbreds had to be recorded with ASI but not registered with AIS.