Penstemon: A summary of interspecific crosses

Abstract

Documenting the successful interspecific crosses in a genus is a valuable tool in making decisions in developing strategies for plant breeding activities. However, summarizing the breeding and hybridization can be confusing because of incomplete or lost breeding records and the failure to register the parentage of new cultivar names. A summary of interspecific crosses in the genus Penstemon at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln West Central Research and Extension Center over 10 years provides insight into both successful and unsuccessful crosses. The results, based on seed production and percent of successful crosses, would suggest that interspecific crosses are more likely to be successful when the parent species are more closely related.