ON THE SUNBERRY 



But the Sunberry, as we have seen, sprang from 

 parent forms neither of which produced edible 

 fruit. 



This was a union of two racial forms that were 

 separated almost to the point of permanent seg- 

 regation. The combination of hereditary factors 

 of two distinct species from two hemispheres de- 

 veloped a hybrid that differed very widely from 

 either parent. As it chanced, this hybrid had 

 qualities of fruit that gave it a new appeal and a 

 standing, from the viewpoint of man, quite dif- 

 ferent from that accorded either of its parents. 



The case, then, of the Sunberry emphasizes 

 anew the principle that new species may be pro- 

 duced through hybridization, and that, provided 

 the parents are genetically separated just widely 

 enough, their offspring may show such a blending 

 of characters as to constitute a new form, and to 

 be able to transmit these characters to its progeny 

 in such a way as to meet the test by which species 

 are everywhere recognized. 



We have seen that there is possibility of hy- 

 bridization between forms that are a shade more 

 widely separated, in which case the hybrid off- 

 spring have the appearance of new species, but 

 lack fertility. Such instances were presented in 

 the hybrid colony of offspring of the dewberry 

 fertilized by pollen from the apple and pear and 



[127] 



