Phrag. Ryoko Urabe

[NYEric]

I was thinking about fischeri hybrids last week and I had to wonder if anyone had done Jason Fischer x fischeri-Duh! [=Asuko Fischer] Then I was wondering why there arent more Jason Fischer and 2nd generation fisheri hybrids available? Huh? and what about those 3N besseae flavum hybrids!? ANSWER ME!!...:crazy:

 

[Bobc]

Very nice.

 

[biothanasis]

WOW!!! Stunning flower!!!!

 

[Drorchid]

I was thinking about fischeri hybrids last week and I had to wonder if anyone had done Jason Fischer x fischeri-Duh! [=Asuko Fischer] Then I was wondering why there arent more Jason Fischer and 2nd generation fisheri hybrids available? Huh? and what about those 3N besseae flavum hybrids!? ANSWER ME!!...:crazy:

Unfortunately P. Jason Fischer is a reluctant breeder, and if you do get it to breed, usually the number of seedlings that germinate is low. The main reason is that Phrag. Jason Fischer is a 3rd generation Phrag. Hybrid, and most of them probably have an uneven chromosome number, or are aneuploid (missing one chromosome). Phrag. besseae: 2n = 24, Phrag. sargentianum: 2n = 22. Phrag. M.D. Clements should have 2n = 23. If you cross M.D. Clements back to besseae, you get a missmatch of one or two chromosomes (as besseae has 24 and M.D Clements has 23), as a result Jason Fischer is mostly sterile. For this reason back in the day Don Wimber was trying to create tetraploid Phragmipediums. In that way you doubled the number of chromosomes, and you are still able to breed with them (at least that was his theory; for instance with Phrag. M.D. Clements, instead of 2n = 23 it became 4n = 46, and you have an even number of chromosomes). I have however noticed that even our 4n Phrag Jason Fischers are still reluctant breeders, so it is still a dead end.

I have been able to breed with second generation fischeri hybrids (like Phrag. Pink Panther x besseae, or Phrag. Barbara LeAnn x fischeri or Phrag. Barbara LeAnn x besseae). I think you do not see more of them, is because people just have not done it yet. 3rd generation fischeri hybrids (like Phrag. Inca Rose) will probably be reluctant breeders, for the same reason that Phrag. Jason Fischer is hard to breed with.

With Cattleyas and Phalaenopsis you are able to keep breeding multiple generations, as most species within the genus have the same chromosome number (This is not the case within Phrag species), so you never have to deal with uneven chromosome numbers.

Robert

 

[John M]

I have however noticed that even our 4n Phrag Jason Fischers are still reluctant breeders, so it is still a dead end.

Very interesting explanation, Robert. Thanks. I have very limited knowledge of the genetics of Phrags and I've always understood that 4n is supposed to solve the sterility problem; but, it seems that is not necessarily so. Do you know if there is anything else that can be tried to correct this problem? Is there any hope of someday getting around this hurdle?

 

[NYEric]

Thanx for the info. Don't forgat me at new hybrid time!

 

[CodPaph]

magnifc flowers, very very nice