Beautiful Yucca hybrid of unknown origin in Mr.
Kristensen's garden
Photo Benny Møller Jensen Copyright © 2003
There are two kinds of hybrids, those that have been made by gardeners and nursery men, and those that has been made in the nature, by "accident".
I suspect that most any species of Yucca can hybridize with one another, as long as the flowers are open at the same time (or, if one saves the pollen). The exceptions would seem to be Yucca brevifolia and Yucca whipplei, of which there never has been any records of hybrids.
According to David J. Ferguson is some species of Yucca self sterile and others are self fertile. He have gotten good fruit when self pollinating Yucca pallida, Yucca rupicola, Yucca thompsoniana and Yucca aloifolia. He has not been able to get fruits on anything related to the Yucca glauca complex (Yucca glauca, Yucca elata and kind), when they were tried to be self pollinated!.
This is however not always accurate, and I had also for many years thought,
that some of my plants were totally sterile, and tried pollinating those
every time they bloomed, and always without any success.
But in the summer of 2010, I made an experiment with two forms which
I never have had any success with, not even with pollen from another Yucca.
The experiment was, that I only pollinated flowers at the very end of a
side-branch or in the very top of the inflorescence. In both cases it worked
with pollen from another Yucca and later experiments, some years later,
showed, that it even worked with pollen from the plants it self.
This experiment shows, that the flowers of Yuccas has apical dominance,
which is very important to know, specially if there are only very little
pollen available of a rare pollen-donor. Now I almost only pollinate flowers
in favorable positions, which made the success rate of the pollinations
rise considerably.
Yucca plants interbreed in nature, and during the last 15 years or so, there have been located many new locations in which there are found possible wild hybrids.
Yucca pallida X
Yucca
constricta?
A natural hybrid found in Texas by Bobby Crabb in 2001.
Photo by Bobby Crabb, Texas ©2001
I have knowledge about the following hybrids all found in the natural habitat:
Yucca aloifolia X filamentosa
[= gloriosa?]
Yucca mesae-verdae (angustissima x baileyi) Found
in Utah by Fritz Hochstätter (fh 1184.52)
Yucca angustissima x elata subsp. utahensis.
Found in Utah by Fritz Hochstätter (fh 1187.32).
Yucca baccata x glauca, northeastern New Mexico's San
Miguel Co. This hybrid were discovered by David Salman, the owner and founder
of High Country Gardens
New Mexico.
Yucca baccata X schidigera.
Yucca baccata X torreyi.
Yucca baccata X faxoniana.
Yucca elata X baccata.
Yucca elata X rostrata.
Yucca elata X torreyi.
Yucca faxoniana X torreyi.
Yucca faxoniana X elata.
Yucca faxoniana [carnerosana]
X filifera.
Yucca faxoniana [carnerosana]
X decipiens.
Yucca glauca X baccata
Can be found in the Santa Fe area New Mexico, a special feature
about those hybrids is that they often has as short trunk up to 100 cm
tall, which
Yucca glauca and Yucca
baccata doesn't have!
Yucca glauca X
In some areas like those around Santa Fe, New Mexico it's difficult
to see if a plant is a Yucca glauca or
if it has "blood" from Yucca glauca.
In this area you can find plants that looks like Yucca
baileyi,
Yucca baileyi ssp. intermedia,
and Yucca glauca (and these could all
grow from seed from the same fruit). According to Dave J. Ferguson aren't
these as variable in appearance as are plants from many other areas, but
the pistil and fruits are rather variable in size, shape, and coloring.
Probably best to call them "intermedia" since this is basically a name
for varied intermediate populations where Yucca
baileyi, Yucca glauca, Yucca
elata, and Yucca angustissima blend
anyway.
Yucca harrimaniae x baccata,
west
of Coyote, New Mexico (Lz2007).
Yucca linearifolia (blue form) x Yucca
torreyi, this hybrid should grow in the Galeana region Mexico.
Yucca pallida X
constricta?
Yucca pallida X arkansana
= Yucca necopina?
Yucca queretaroensis x possible faxoniana or
visa-versa
Yucca schidigera X valida.
Yucca torreyi X rostrata.
Yucca torreyi X thompsoniana.
Yucca torreyi X rigida.
Yucca torreyi X linearifolia.
Yucca xpollyjeaniae (harrimaniae x glauca), Central
Colorado 2350-2700m. Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xfeeanoukiae (harrimaniae x harrimaniae
ssp. gilbertiana), Northern Utah 1900-2000m. Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xquinnarjenii (baileyi x baileyi ssp. intermedia),
Northern New Mexico 1900-2000m. Hochstätter
supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xkeithii (elata x constricta), Central Texas.
Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xbaccatissima (baccata x angustissima?)
fh 1188.67 Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xintermediate (arkansana x campestris),
Texas, Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xglaucissima (glauca x angustissima), New
Mexico, Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010..
Yucca xconsana (constricta x arkansana), Texas,
Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xbaylissima (baileyi x angustissima), Utah,
Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca xoklahomensis (glauca ssp. stricta x arkansana),
Oklahoma, Hochstätter supplement
seed list July 2010.
Yucca bacsoniana (baccata x thompsoniana) Hochstätter
2008.
According to WEBBER many of the populations of Yuccas are intermediates between the so called "species" of Yucca in the glauca/elata and the rupicola/rostrata groups. If you count these, then perhaps half of all Yucca plants are "hybrids"!?
Yucca recurvifolia is probably Yucca aloifolia [or gloriosa] X Yucca flaccida, but this needs to be proven.
Ref:
FERGUSON, Dave J., 2000, in an email to the discussion group HARDYCACTI_ETC,
subject: Yucca hybrid, Thu, 12 Oct 2000 09:02:04 -0700 (PDT)
WEBBER, 1953; Yuccas of the Southwest
Agriculture Monograph No. 17, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USA.
This is another kind of hybrids.
Yucca faxoniana X Yucca glauca [or "intermedia"], which Mesa Garden used to sell. Was from a large cluster of plants in a median strip in Albuquerque, new Mexico. Since Yucca glauca and Yucca faxoniana never grow together in habitat, this hybrid had to have happened in cultivation, probably right there in that median. Dave Ferguson, have seen a few others of this hybrid, scattered around where Yucca faxoniana is cultivated in the Albuquerque area. But seeds of this hybrid have only been offered once!
--
Mr. Kristensen is enjoying his beautiful
row of unusual Yucca hybrids. Seeds were collected in a garden in New Mexico.
Photo Benny Møller Jensen Copyright © 2003
A hybrid which contain either Yucca linearifolia, Yucca treculeana or Yucca rostrata as the parent plants had occurred in a nursery in Spain, where they collected seeds which were from open pollination in the nursery. In Spain there are also Yucca aloifolia in many places, so this species might also be a possible parent, to be taken in consideration.
Yucca rupicola x ? (maybe treculeana,
torreyi,
faxoniana,
or maybe rigida?). Seeds harvested at a landscape nursery in New
Mexico in 2002 or 2003. A few plants is in cultivation in the private collection
of Tim Behan.
The first to make a Yucca hybrid were the German nursery-man Graebener, in 1899 did he make Yucca x karlsruhensis, and a "sport" of this were named Yucca 'Graebeneri'.
The person whom has made most the hybrids were Carl Sprenger. In the years from 1897 to 1907 Carl Sprenger named at least 122 Yucca hybrids! Carl Sprenger's work was continued by Willy Müller.
Willy Müller named the following hybrids:
Yucca 'Sprengerii'
Yucca 'Williamsiana'
Yucca 'Moloniana'
But I don't have any reference on Müller's work, so if any of the readers knows anything please let me know!
Another person were J. B. Deleuil from?, he should had create more than 3000 plants, and some of them were named:
Yucca 'Andreana' (Y. gloriosa plicata x Y. treculeana).
This one should have had a "filled" flower with multiple tepals!
Yucca xdracaenoides
Yucca xjuncea
Yucca 'Licida'
Yucca xprocera
Yucca 'Carrierei'
Yucca xensifera
Yucca xgracillima
Yucca 'Messiliensis'
Yucca xstriatula
Yucca 'Deleuili'
Yucca xfloribunda differs from “Sprenger floribunda” in forming
large trunks
Yucca xleavigata
Yucca xpilosa
Yucca xsulcata
I'm searching for information about F. N. Rusanov a Professor from the Botanical Institute and Botanical Garden in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan. Until now I have the following:
So far have I found that, from 1945 to 1959 Rusanov did make the following hybrids:
Yucca filamentosa x glauca, this cross gives strong plants
which is good for frost and snow.
Yucca elata x glauca No information at the time of writing!
Yucca filamentosa x elata, this cross gives plants with
narrow dark green leaves, compact rosette, inflorescense up to 2 meter
tall.
Yucca elata x baileyi ssp. intermedia, this cross
gives plants with long narrow leaves, when the plants are mature
they have a big rosette of leaves and look very much like a Dasylirion
from distance.
Yucca (filamentosa x elata) x pallida
Yucca (filamentosa x elata) x pallida (different
seed-donor)
Yucca flaccida x pallida
Yucca (filamentosa x baileyi ssp. intermedia)
x pallida
There may be a few more which I have not noticed in the first quick reading thru. We are still working on the translation (114 pages + 5 other pages from an article about Yucca hybrids). When I know more you will be informed.
Rusanov writes that the hybrids from 1. generation, most often looks like the seed parent. I can not see this in my own hybrids, it depends of the genes of both parents, as I have made the hybrid Yucca filamentosa x glauca, with two different pollen donors, and the outcome is very different. We need to make a lot more than one or two crossings, to get the picture of which genes are the strongest and most dominant, but hopefully can we get a hint on what to expect, as we get more different crossings made worldwide.
You can find information about the hybrids made from 1945 to present day by clicking here.
If you have any information about Yucca hybrids please let me know.
If you are a Yucca breeder, please name your new cultivar according to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS)
Please note following text which is from ISHS's web page about "how to name a new cultivar": "Since 1959, new cultivar epithets must be in a language other than Latin and they must be unique within the so-called denomination class which is usually the genus."
I had tried pollinating Yucca's for many years, but until july 2003 I did not have any luck with that. But in the summer of 2003, my friend Pia Larsen, did find a technique that worked, since our first success, I have made cross pollination of the several species and forms:
Yucca hybrids made in the summer
of 2003.
Yucca hybrids made in the summer
of 2004.
Yucca hybrids made in the summer
of 2008.
Yucca hybrids made
in the summer of 2009.
Yucca hybrids made
in the summer of 2010.
Fruits on Yucca glauca (BMJ #1461) Note
that one of the fruits are deform, as if it didn't receive enough pollinium!!
Photo from August 18th 2003.
Copyright ©2003 Benny Moeller Jensen
Hybrids from gardens, not man made:
Yucca 'Albuquerque Mystery I'
(recurvifolia
x ? (glauca)).
Yucca 'Albuquerque Mystery II'
(recurvifolia
x ? (glauca)).
Yucca
'Karlson'
F:2 = seedling from Yucca 'Karlsruhensis'!
Yucca van Zwet hybrid #57 filamentosa [concava?]
x ? self polinated, maybe by ants, Mark van Zwet, The Netherlands.
How to pollinate Yucca flowers by hand:
To get seed pods you need two different clones of Yucca as they are self sterile! It looks like that we got the best pollination during the time from 19 to 22 in the evening, but then again many of the flowers were pollinated during the morning and in the afternoon, so it's not impossible to pollinate all day long! According to Sprenger it is possible to collect pollen from an early blooming species and save it in an air tight container for a couple of months and, so it's is possible to pollinate it with an late blooming species! I have not tried it yet, but will collect pollen and try so store it in my freezer for next summer!?!?
List of things you need when you cross pollinate Yuccas:
Small bamboo stick, 5 cm long and less than 1 mm thick. Or use the "stem"
of a short grass flower, which is thin enough for this kind of work.
1 black lid from a film canister.
Alcohol to clean stick and lid with.
Paper towel for the alcohol.
3M medical tape (US only)
Labels with a hole.
Bast (raffia) for tying labels to the flower.
Pencil for writing on the labels.
A steady hand + good luck!
How is it done?
The tricky part is to gently collect the pollinium from the anthers,
in each flower there are 6 anthers with two polliniums on each (some plants
have four!), not all of the pollinium is ripe at the same time, so if you
want to pollinate, during the evening and the early morning, you would
have to look several times, to be sure the pollen is ready. I collect the
pollen with a short (5 cm long) and very thin (less than 1 mm thick) bamboo
stick, and collect it in a black lid from a film canister (black makes
it easier to see the pollinium). Before starting to collect from a new
plant, you need to clean your stick with alcohol, so you don't mix any
genes, and don't know who the parents are! It's important to start with
collecting pollinium from all the parents you want to pollinate, as the
pollinium sits very loose on the anthers, and you will easily shake of
the pollinium when you begin to pollinate! When you have collected all
the pollinium you need, from those plants you want to try with, you can
start pollinating. It's not difficult to pollinate, just pick a pollinium
with the thin stick, and gently put in into the stigma of the flower of
the "motherplant" with out damaging it (This is the reason why you need
a very thin stick) (in USA it might be advisable to but a small piece of
3M medical tape on the stigma, so your local Yucca moth don't pollinate
the flower too!). It seems like that freshly opened flowers, are better
to pollinate that flowers that are a few days old. Then write a label with
the number (all my plants are numbered) and the name of the parents, always
with the seed parent first and the pollen parent last. The label is then
tied to the pollinated flower with a piece of bast (raffia). In 4-10 days
you will know if you have succeeded or failed to pollinate, if failed the
flower falls of, and if you have success the fruit slowly starts to point
upwards and get a purple tinge. The seeds should be ripe in 6 to 12 weeks,
and all you need to do, is to sow the seeds
and you might have small seedling of a new your own hybrid next year. Stem
less Yuccas normally bloom after 5 to 10 years from seeds, I don't know
how many years it takes for those with stems, as none of my plants have
ever bloomed!
Yucca 'Albuquerque Mystery I'
(recurvifolia
x ? (glauca complex)).
Yucca 'Elegantissima' Sprenger hybrid.
(Yucca filamentosa var. major X
gloriosa)
Yucca 'Elena's Star'
a selected clone of the BMJ hybrid #1844 (Yucca glauca X hybrid
# 1402) made by Benny M. Jensen in 2003, BMJ #1844A.
Yucca faxoniana X glauca complex
Yucca 'Floribunda' from
3 different sources, not all plants are alike?
Yucca
'Karlson'
F:2 = seedling from Yucca 'Karlsruhensis'!
Yucca 'Karlsruhensis' ( Yucca flaccida
x
glauca)
Hybrid by Graebener (1899).
Yucca harrimaniae x nana
Yucca hybrid #500 (hybrid of unknown origin!)
Yucca hybrid #1402 (hybrid of unknown
origin!)
Yucca reverschoni x thompsoniana, Texas, Rankin, fh1180.8,
sown 1999.
See full list on this page: "List of Yucca hybrids in the "Jensen collection" 2009"
Yucca hybrids made in the summer
of 2003.
Yucca hybrids made in the summer
of 2004.
Yucca hybrids made in the summer
of 2008.
Yucca hybrids made
in the summer of 2009.
Yucca hybrids made
in the summer of 2010.
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