4 ms·

I'd be disinclined to refer to Cavendish as a cultivar, let alone a species; they are clones, copied not bred - what sickens one will sicken them all.

• maxerickson 9y ago
  What makes a cultivar though? (the clones obviously belong to some species) On one side, the consistent fruit makes a cultivar. What's the other side?
  • foxhop 9y ago
    My understanding is how they reproduce. A cultivar reproduces "sexually", and is "true to seed". If you plant the seed you get the same or very similar plant (which produces the same seeds). To clone is to trick an organism to divide into two or more organisms. This means they have the same strengths and weaknesses because they have nearly the same genes. Cloning can be done by rooting cuttings of a plant or attaching a cutting of a desirable plant to a root stock of a less desirable version (or a version with qualities like limited height to keep the tree small)
    • maxerickson 9y ago
      Bananas self clone, growing horizontal roots that turn into whole banana plants. So they do propagate themselves.
      • foxhop 9y ago
        Apparently bananas as we know them are a mostly sterile hybrid of two other trees. They self propagate like you say (but humans also spread them around). Bananas have a near zero rate of sexual reproduction, if you can get one to produce a seed, it's viability is low. If you can get the seed to germinate, the resulting "offspring" from that will be distinct from the original banana, a new variety. It will not necessarily be "true to seed". It might be a better banana, or worse. If you plant a lettuce seed you will get the same lettuce, year over year. Same with peppers and tomatoes, etc. Their traits were bred instead of cloned.
        • mythrwy 9y ago
          While generally correct the last paragraph is a bit off. You "might" get the same pepper, lettuce or tomato. If the parent was non-hybrid or open pollinated. If it's a lettuce, pepper or tomato from the grocery store almost for sure it's a hybrid and you won't get the same plant as the parent.
    • eesmith 9y ago
      "Cultivars that are produced asexually are genetically identical and known as clones" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivar#Clones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivar#Clones "Some cultivars "come true from seed", retaining their distinguishing characteristics when grown from seed. Such plants are termed a "variety", "selection" or "strain" but these are ambiguous and confusing words that are best avoided. In general, asexually propagated cultivars grown from seeds produce highly variable seedling plants, and should not be labelled with, or sold under, the parent cultivar's name." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivar#Seed-produced https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivar#Seed-produced Furthermore, "Which plants are chosen to be named as cultivars is simply a matter of convenience as the category was created to serve the practical needs of horticulture, agriculture, and forestry."
  • TeMPOraL 9y ago
    Apparently, "cultivar" is what is defined by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Nomenclature_for_Cultivated_Plants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Nomencla... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivated_plant_taxonomy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultivated_plant_taxonomy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banana_cultivars#AAA_Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banana_cultivars#AAA_G...
• stephengillie 9y ago
  Navel oranges are similar. They are a mutant - one orange growing within another. Navel oranges are characterized by the growth of a second fruit at the apex, which protrudes slightly and resembles a human navel. According to a 1917 study by Palemon Dorsett, Archibald Dixon Shamel and Wilson Popenoe of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a single mutation in a Selecta orange tree planted on the grounds of a monastery near Bahia, Brazil, probably yielded the first navel orange between 1810 and 1820. Because the mutation left the fruit seedless and, therefore, sterile, the only method to cultivate navel oranges was to graft cuttings onto other varieties of citrus trees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(fruit)#Navel_oranges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(fruit)#Navel_oranges
  • djsumdog 9y ago
    So it's a variety that would quite possibly die off entirely if humans were no longer around to cultivate it?
    • carlmr 9y ago
      Assuming our alien overlords don't like navel oranges, then yes.
• askvictor 9y ago
  The same could be said about any variety of apple; they are cuttings grafted onto rootstock. The grafted sections were cut from a tree of that variety, which was grafted from another one of that sort, going back all the way to the original one of that variety that was discovered (most likely thanks to Johnny Appleseed). Apples are clones, just like bananas; sexual reproduction of apples creates in most cases, apples which aren't good for eating. I suppose with apples, one difference is that you can use different rootstocks for some diversity and resistance against soil-borne diseases.