| MadSci Network: Botany |
The general rule in graft compatibility is that the closer species are related, the more likely they will form a successful graft. Therefore, species in the same genus usually form successful grafts and are more likely to form succesful grafts than species in different genera. There are several examples of plants in different, but closely related genera in the same family, forming successful grafts. Examples include pear (Pyrus) scions on quince (Cydonia) rootstocks, and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) on potato (Solanum tuberosum). There are many exceptions to these general rules, such as red maple on red maple and douglas fir on douglas fir grafts often failing even within the same species. Monocot species cannot be grafted, but woody dicots and most gymnosperms are graftable. Some nonwoody dicots, even some vegetable seedlings, can be grafted. In Japan, watermelons (Citrullus lamanis), Oriental melons (Cucumis melo var. makuwa), greenhouse cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are usually grafted. There was a recent discussion on grafting limits in the newsgroup sci.bio.botany, which you can access from google.com newsgroups. One contributor mentioned that succulent plant families, such as Cactaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Crassulaceae, Didiereaceae, Apocynaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Aloaceae, and Piperaceae seem to have very wide grafting limits within the families. Successful grafts between species in different families are rare but have occurred between species in Cactaceae and Didiereaceae. References Grafting and Budding Grafting offers endless possibilities Grafting Grafting Vegetable Crops Garner, R.J. 1988. The Grafter's Handbook. London: Cassell. Hartmann, H.T. and Kester, D.E. 1983. Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
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