From: "derek burch" <dburch23 at bellsouth.net> on 2009.01.05 at 19:15:03(18866)
Brian,
It isn't that uncommon in other families for self fertile plants to reject
foreign pollen - not very smart from the point of vies of maintaining
diversity, but plants are not really noted for their long-range planning.
The incompatibility can take many forms - chemical rejection, chemical
incompatibility, even physical rejection. I remember working in the orchid
genus Brassavola where 'foreign' pollen (same genus, different species)
would fail on some species in which the pollen tube had to grow a long
distance from the stigma down the style to the ovules, when the pollen just
did not have the stamina to grow that far.
I'm sure that someone with more experience with aroids will have ideas on
this. Do you see any beginnings of swelling of the ovule? In that case, some
sort of "green pod" (as its called in orchids) tissue culture might bring
the embryo to maturity. In this case the pollen tube would have reached the
ovule and fertilized it, but other chemical factors would have come into
play to stop further development.
Getting seeds to form, mature and germinate is a very complex business with
many, many things that can go wrong (and only one chance to go right).You
might be better off forgetting your plant-breeding dreams and playing the
lottery.
Regards, Derek
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