"MMMavocado" wrote:
To add to Mark's summary:
[summary of genetic tests presented at HRF meeting
omitted]

That covers it tidily and saves me the trouble of typing
in what's on the handout we got at the meeting (which
I found in my car ten minutes after I posted).

I think that breeders will be particularly interested to
know whether a new rose is likely from the cross they
made, or from an accidental self-pollination or a stray
grain from some other plant. That'd seem to be relatively
easy for tests to show. Old-rose enthusiasts: well, it's
not always so cut-and-dried. Determining whether a
found rose is the same as an extant variety shouldn't be
too hard, but showing conclusively that a found rose is
a variety thought extinct will be another kettle of fish.
Sure, IF we know the purported parents and they're
still around, and IF the original hybridizer didn't make
a mistake...yeah, maybe. Still, it's better than guesswork,
and running these tests looks like a great way to get
students' feet wet doing science that actually has results
that people care about.

Mark.