Dasylirion hybrids ?

[Ronald Chisum]

As most of you know, the dasylirion family is dioecious. This past winter my male Dasylirion longissimum had flower stalks. At the same time, my female Dasylirion wheeleri also put up a spike. I now appear to have a significant crop of seeds.
Questions: Are these seeds likely to be fertile? Has anyone ever seen a hybrid between these plants? Is it worthwhile growing the hybrid if the seeds are fertile? RON

[Allen Repashy]

Hi Ron,

I have seen plants at a growers Nursery that indeed looked like intermediates. I don't know if they were or not, or there was anything that was significantly different... But it is always fun to grow seedlings and see what comes out of it........ I would be happy to rescue some seed if you can't sow it all.

[Paul S]

I have what I consider to be a D. quadrangulatum hybrid - raised from a batch of D. quad. seeds it has flattened but very narrow leaves with a few marginal teeth near the base but not many. A very interesting looking plant! I would imagine you might well have some beauties in amongst there, so well worth starting. What the other parent is would be purely guesswork - depending upon whether the seed was habitat collected or from cultivated stock.

For sure where you get two species growing together you can see intergrades - for example in and around the Miquihuana region of Tamaulipas in NE Mexico Dasylirion quadrangulatum grows with Dasylirion miquihuanensis and there are some that look like hybrids in amongst the plants.

I actually strongly suspect that most Dasylirions entering into cultivation in Europe over recent years are hybrids of some sort or another after generations of nurserymen collecting seeds from their own plants - the distinctions between offered species seems to get less and less.

One thing, though - the seed capsules will start to form and inflate whether or not they contain seeds - only falling off empty after some months. So unless you have checked for sure there may not be seeds.