North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Title: Land Races

As I understand a Land Race (from my plant breeding classes) it is an old variety which, while generally conforming to a standard of sorts, contains a lot of variation within it.  For example, I got some seed of ornamental sunflowers from East Germany some years ago.  Where an ornamental sunflower from an American company would have been pretty standard for height, growth habit, and percentages of colors, this lot had plants that ranged from 4  feet to 8 feet in height, with some having no branches, some with branches at the top of the stalk, some with side shoots all the way up (which made them look like Christmas trees), and more.  This is the kind of variation a land race can have.  It's usually possible to select lots of separate lines from them, any one of which can constitute a variety on it's own.  
   Clear as mud?
-Lon Rombough
> From: hector black <hblack@twlakes.net>
> Reply-To: nafex@ibiblio.org
> Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 14:47:37 -0700
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Antique vs. Heirloom

> I like Lon's definition of antique as being over 100 yrs. old, referring
> largely to fruit or nut varieties, and Heirloom as being a race of seeds
> passed on for some years.  How many years on the latter would be open to
> discussion.  It would clarify variety descriptions to have these terms
> agreed to.
>
> I seem to recall that a "land race" (I've crushed my temptation to make a
> funny) refers to fruit or nut trees of a local area where the seeds have
> been planted and trees inbred for so many years that they mostly come true
> to seed. Would these be a third category?
>    Hector Black, zone 6 middle TN