On 2/10/2015 6:29 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
On 2/9/2015 9:00 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
Gary Woods wrote:
"Terry Coombs" wrote:

One of my San Marzano tomatoes has different leaves , heart shaped
rather than lobed like all the rest . Wonder what it'll grow ?
Guess I'll just have to wait and see ... I have that seedling
marked , and plan to keep track of where it gets planted .
Sounds like "Potato Leafed," usually a trait of older heirlooms.
Either a cross or a sport. Could be interesting...

You and George both used the term "sport" . I've heard the term ,
but am unsure of it's meaning . These were all open pollinated seeds
I got on the internet and I have been very pleased with the
germination rates , easily 99% in the ones i got .
It'd be nice I guess if this were a throwback . It'll be planted
and monitored , it's got me curiouser and more curiouser !

A sport is a natural hybrid, one that mankind didn't breed to be
different. Occurs frequently in nature. When I was hybridizing chile
plants I would occasionally get a plant that was not like the parent
plants in any way. Sometimes they worked out fine sometimes they were
totally useless. Ma Nature works in mysterious ways to confuse
humans. I think it may be deliberate. G

Stay curious and you might find the latest high dollar plant for the
whole world. When early man first began actually planting wild seed to
grow for food he or she also started manipulating the plants to get
better yield, taste, etc. It ain't over yet.

That isn't my understanding of the term. You can get sports on only one
part of a plant, say one branch, which says to me it is a spontaneous
mutation that has happened during the growth of the plant affecting the
cells descended from that mutant but not the rest. A wild hybrid would
affect the genes of the whole plant not just part.

Around here both of those equal a sport as far as I know.