Summary
Lilium ‘Black Beauty’, a rare intersectional hybrid previously reported sterile, was re-examined for pollen and ovule fertility. No pollen tubes were detected following incubation of styles pollinated with ‘Black Beauty’ pollen. However, embryos varying in size from small globular to long boat-shaped and only rarely associated with endosperm, were found in 0.1–1.0% of the ovules in ‘Black Beauty’ pistils pollinated with ‘Oriental’ or ‘Aurelian’ division lilies. Aseptic extraction and culture of these embryos on a nutritive medium resulted in growth, germination, and plantlets. It is apparent that with embryo culture, ‘Black Beauty’ has unique value as a species bridge in that it accepts pollen of both ‘Oriental’ and ‘Aurelian’ lilies, two of the major commercial lily divisions.
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Scientific Journal Series Paper Number 9197 of the Minnesota Agricultural Experimental Station.
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Ronald, W.G., Ascher, P.D. Lilium x ‘Black Beauty’—a potential bridging hybrid in Lilium . Euphytica 25, 285–291 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041558
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041558