Michael poses a very interesting question in the green trompenburg thread. "do we really believe the interspecific hybrids to be legitimate?" Does this question mean is it possible for maples to hybridize? We know that many other species of plants hybridize...why not maples? But the bigger question to me is How do we know when a hybrid has occured vs. a mutation or variation within the species? When we look at a plant where do we draw the line...which traits do we use? How many have to fit? Is it the bark characterisitics...the leaf characterisitics, shades of color, the leaf shape, leaf size, vennation and so on. As we know, plant culture can change the outcome of plant appearance (nature and nurture). We can only lump or split plants according to their similar/dissimilar characterisitics. There are so many variable factors to this the question may never really be solved. To illustrate; look at the photo of my 5 year old shirawasawanum seedling. Is this a hybrid or a shirarasawanum variation? (I Know, I Know...what can you tell from a photo!) But my point is how are we to truly know what happened to form this plant? As technology advances and more studies are made we will redefine the lines to better fit our theories on plant lineage. DNA analysis may be the one way to clear these questions up. robert
