Total plant sterility

[oxbowfarm]

Just found something interesting today. I've got a patch of Russian Frills kale I've grown out for seed that is flowering really heavy right now. The bees are working it like crazy, lots of honey bees, bumbles, and little sweat bees. So I noticed one plant that was significantly shorter than the others. Took a closer look and it appears to be totally sterile. The flowers have no anthers but even if it had male sterility it is right in the center of the group so it would have been pollinated but there are no set pods. No idea if this is genetic or environmental, we did have a really screwy spring, maybe this plant got a gene turned off?

Here's the sterile plant.


A fertile one right next to it.


I really do recommend Russian Frills if you like napus kale. It also gets a lot of attention at market. Here's a pic of it from the patch I'm harvesting for market currently.

[jim]

Is this the only plant in the group which is reduced in size and apparently sterile?
My guess is something environmental.
Jim

[cortona]

just an idea, can be a perennial one? like the daubenton? it rarely or never flower but it live for years....

[oxbowfarm]

I'm not sure of Russian Frills ability to perenialize, this is the first time I've held it over for seed. But my understanding from the D'aubenton Flowering thread is that on the rare occasions that it does flower it is fertile. I'll have to look back at that thread. This one is flowering profusely to no result.

Jim, I haven't checked to see if other plants are like this. My general impression is that most of them are quite fertile, there are lots and lots of pods growing.

[cortona]

wen it flower daubenton are fertile but not so much, i've planted lacinato kale really near the flowering daubenton, but despite the hard work of bees and bumblebeesa just the flowers i handpollinate produce fertile pods...

[jim]

I guess it won't be much of an issue, as a total sterility trait would eliminate itself very quickly from your breeding program!
Interesting though...
Jim