The American Rose, p. 15, Oct. 1958.
Male Controls Sprouting
Edward B. Risley
Durham, N. H.
A REVIEW of data collected in 1955 has revealed evidence that the particular rose variety used as the pollen parent may influence the length of time that must pass before the seeds will germinate. When the pollen has a direct effect on the seed tissues, other than the embryo, the effect is known as xenia. The color of the seed of the pollen parent has long been known to control the color of the kernels on an ear of corn, and this is cited as the classic example of xenia. In other plants, xenia is rare.
The twelve lots of seeds listed below were harvested without drying and put in moist sphagnurn moss in polyethylene bags in a refrigerator on September 23 and 24, 1954. In all cases the female parent was Skinner's Rambler. The number of days until the first seeds germinated (the stratification period) was recorded for each cross.
Rose varieties crossed in 1954
| Female x | Male | Number of days before germination |
| Skinners Rambler x | Max Graf | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Persian Yellow | |
| Skinners Rambler x | open pollinated | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Dream Girl | |
| Skinners Rambler x | (Brownell Pillar #84 ) | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Mandalay | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Bonfire | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Lady Penzance | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Prof. Emile Perrot | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Diamond Jubilee | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Tawny Gold | |
| Skinners Rambler x | Queen of the Lakes |
The difference between longest and shortest stratification period was 90 days. The majority of the seeds in each cross germinated soon after the first ones. No other obvious variable was in operation and the difference is thought to be due to some direct effect the pollen parent had on the seed coat or on the chemical nature of dormancy in this case.