Tetraploids come true from seed. They dominate in hybridizing with diploids. The only tetra strep that I know of is that form of Mighty Mouse. Tetraploids have larger thicker brittle leaves, larger flowers, greater hardiness to cold. All in all, though, they don't offer much to streps. MM being a mini looks really drab in its tetra form. It has small pale flowers, and the same flowers, slightly larger, on a bigger plant really doesn't look all that interesting. Its best feature is its small delicateness.

I once or twice got 7 seeds using MM as a pod parent-- Plus I learned that number from MM's hybridizer who, way back when, was a friend of mine. The point being--that the pods are fairly large, so look empty when harvested. But, a careful harvesting will yield those precious few seeds. Then the hybrids raised will be much more fertile in the next generation. MM is easy to hybridize with--its just that no one has used it for hybridizing in about 25 years. So, try it!

Jon

thanks for that clarification, but I have one more question. So if all streps are diploid except for that tetraploid Mighty Mouse, why when I was looking up Maasen's White did they make a point of it being diploid? thanks again.

~lulu