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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] The Effect of Cultivars on Native Species Gene Pools

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: yarrow@sfo.com
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] The Effect of Cultivars on Native Species Gene Pools
  • Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:23:41 -0800

At 6:56 PM +0000 12/30/09, Armed With A Mind Armed With A Mind wrote:
...>I want to err on the side of caution but there are some plants that are tempting me to hop the fence to the other side. I recall for example how tough it is to crack a native black walnut, and how little meat there is. Similarily with regards to meat size is Korean Pine nut. Grapes, mulberries, and strawberries, are just a few of the plants that I'd like to grow cultivars of but am worried about doing to their native relatives what GMO's are doing to corn, and canola, etc. The last thing I want to be is a Monsanto-like monster to my local ecosystem.

What is your take on this issue?

Depends how close your plants are to a wild area. Here in suburbia, anything goes, though I still avoid nonnative nonedibles -- it has to feed me or the wildlife. If you're at a wildland interface, then I'd do some research to find out what's native nearby, and maybe avoid those genera. Also, you could plant the cultivars in the areas closer to your house, with lots of netting (to prevent birds from creating hybrids). I wonder if the distance from wild genera will prevent hybridization by bees.

Another idea is to embrace the wild foods. I'm sitting here nibbling on black walnuts (bought not collected, but seasonal). They have a special taste. Many wild foods have higher levels of nutrients than cultivated ones, and stronger flavors.

Are there wild Morus sp.?

Here in Calif., the 'Roger's Red' grape cultivar that for years was sold as a native cv. has been found to be only half native. The other half is a cultivated grape, probaby from the vineyards that have taken over Napa and Sonoma counties -- a real-life experiment that puts monsters in the ecosystem. It might be worth looking to see if anyone has investigated the effect of acres of cultivated grapes on the native stock. I do know that many of the local cvs. of Calif. poppies are becoming hard to find because of all the "let's plant wildflowers" school/community programs that spread nonlocal seedstock.

The strawberries might be a safe bet if you can plant them close to your house and/or under cover, and maybe there isn't a Fragaria sp. nearby? It would seem more a risk for Prunus sp. in your orchard, or Rubus sp. if you want to grow brambleberries, or Vaccinium sp., which may all be common in the wild and harder to cover or keep close to the house.





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