Hello, evolutionary biology student here. As far as I'm aware, there's existing crosses of Sorbus and Cotoneaster, and there is a very large fruiting Sorbus variety here in Czechia, Sorbus Domestica (of unclear origin, perhaps Sorbus+apple cross? Who knows) which could perhaps be crossed with Cotoneaster. however sorbocotoneasters that do exist don't produce very fertile offspring, therefore need to be grafted as a clonal cultivar. I'm also thinking of crosses with quinces (Cydonia oblonga), Mespilus and perhaps most interestingly Amelanchier (which is known to be able to cross with Sorbus)
Sorbus domestica is an interesting one because it was recently moved to its own monotypic genus. I have not dug into why it was. Probably similar reasons to why Potentilla anserina was moved into the Argentina genus.
I'm a great believer in attempting thousands of germinations of alleged sterile seeds. I believe that eventually you'll find the right gene combination that will lead to a viable offspring. It's a numbers game, and all it takes is one success!
Please let me know how you get on with these crosses. If you have time, please write about it online somewhere so we can keep the flame of plant breeding alive.
I see that there have been intergeneric crosses between the Sorbus genus and Cottoneaster. Also Sorbus and pyrus as well as with Medlars. I saw other crosses listed, but these three stood out.
Perhaps you could use some of these intergeneric crosses or make your own. Then cross with each other.
Can't wait to keep in touch and see what happens! We have 1 good malus and one malus that although productive is not a good keeper (rots on the branches and not even the birds tend to eat them! Guess I'll join you in seeing what we can breed from the good one!
Hello, evolutionary biology student here. As far as I'm aware, there's existing crosses of Sorbus and Cotoneaster, and there is a very large fruiting Sorbus variety here in Czechia, Sorbus Domestica (of unclear origin, perhaps Sorbus+apple cross? Who knows) which could perhaps be crossed with Cotoneaster. however sorbocotoneasters that do exist don't produce very fertile offspring, therefore need to be grafted as a clonal cultivar. I'm also thinking of crosses with quinces (Cydonia oblonga), Mespilus and perhaps most interestingly Amelanchier (which is known to be able to cross with Sorbus)
Sorbus domestica is an interesting one because it was recently moved to its own monotypic genus. I have not dug into why it was. Probably similar reasons to why Potentilla anserina was moved into the Argentina genus.
I'm a great believer in attempting thousands of germinations of alleged sterile seeds. I believe that eventually you'll find the right gene combination that will lead to a viable offspring. It's a numbers game, and all it takes is one success!
Please let me know how you get on with these crosses. If you have time, please write about it online somewhere so we can keep the flame of plant breeding alive.
I see that there have been intergeneric crosses between the Sorbus genus and Cottoneaster. Also Sorbus and pyrus as well as with Medlars. I saw other crosses listed, but these three stood out.
Perhaps you could use some of these intergeneric crosses or make your own. Then cross with each other.
Can't wait to keep in touch and see what happens! We have 1 good malus and one malus that although productive is not a good keeper (rots on the branches and not even the birds tend to eat them! Guess I'll join you in seeing what we can breed from the good one!
I love what you are doing here. Bravo!