Posted by Gus on 10/28/2009, 9:18 pm, in reply to "Re: hybridisation" Link: Eucalyptologics: Info resources on Eucalyptus cultivation
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Hans,
Scientific method, and a plethora of measurements and data treatment have proved the cold hardiness of a Eucalyptus hybrid tends to be the average of the cold hardiness of each parent. But it is important to note that the "parent" species should not really be considered as species for a cross. It is the particular genes of the parent trees what are crossing, not the species.
What do I mean with this? That if you have two pedigreed parent trees of 2 different compatible Eucalyptus species, and both of them are the result of selection for cold hardiness, then their cross is probably going to be cold hardier than the cross of wild genes of the same two species.
To some extent, this is like animal husbandry. Trees can also have a pedigree! And in fact, once you get into varietal selection, they tend to have it.
Still, there are always at lest two difficulties. And I do not say this because of Martin's tree, but in general:
- Isolated eucalypts won't yield "good seed", be them pedigreed or not. They have mechanisms that inhibit self-pollination, self - seeding.
- Seed from a particularly outstanding Eucalyptus hybrid (no matter the reason) won't repeat the performance of the original. To assure you capture that special genotype and you reproduce it, you must rely on vegetative propagation: rooting cuttings. That, in turn, means you must select not just for the desired trait, but also for rooting ability!
That's why good seed tends to be produced from groups of trees instead of from isolated trees. Also better if the trees in the group are not related (for example, not the progeny of a same original tree).
About cold hardy pink flowering hybrid eucalypts, I must zip my mouth and refrain from comments by now 
Cheers
Gus
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