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Fruit & Orchards

Red 'Wonderful' Pomegranate seed produces a white flowering plant

forever_a_newbie_VA8

14 years ago

I sowed a few seeds from our little pomegranate 'Wonderful' tree a few years ago. Three survived and grew happily in our yard. Last year they started to bloom.

But then, a most interesting thing happened. One of them was blooming white flowers!

The mother plant

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the baby plant

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This spring I paid more attention to them. And it is clear that right from the beginning of the season, the white baby is different from the others. I have to consider it marvelous. Out of 3 offsprings I have got a significant mutant. I wonder whether it will set fruit...

the red offspring

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the white plant

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Comments (5)

larry_gene
14 years ago
A little research shows:

"Wonderful" pomegranate dates from 1896 when a Mr. Bearss (probably the same guy the Bearss Lime is named for) propagated a random cutting from Florida.

White-flowered pomegranate varieties were know in olden times also. Your seedling is more likely a throwback than a mutant.
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forever_a_newbie_VA8
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Larry. It is interesting to know that. Changsong
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What the rabbit said - they'll fruit, eventually. All named varieties of pomegranates(and virtually all fruits, for that matter) were just seedlings at some point in time. They just grew through their juvenile period and reached fruiting age before someone selected them for their fruit quality. Most pomegranate varieties are propagated from cuttings - it's a form of...cloning(gasp!) that's been practiced for thousands of years. Hybrids? No, so far as I'm aware, they're all the same species, Punica granatum. Just because someone might cross pollenate, say, Wonderful with Parfianka, the resulting seedlings are NOT hybrids - just seedlings with two named-variety parents. Will all of the resulting seedlings produce top quality fruits? No, but some will have a 'genetic advantage' in that arena and may express desirable traits inherited from both parents. Human involvement in plant breeding and selection is not inherently 'evil'. wizzard, seed-grown avocados WILL fruit - if you provide them the proper growing conditions and allow sufficient time for them to reach fruiting age; fruit quality(as with most seed-grown fruit) will largely be unpredictable.
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Yes, this more pinkish fruit is rather sweet & tasty... not so tart as the old pomegranate bush has! I forgot to mention that the old bush's fruit when ripe is a deep red on the outside but the newer bush has fruit that has the green skin yet but has split & seems to be ripe ... strange! Would you have an idea of any 'pome varieties that have the sweeter, pinkish fruit? Will give it another year & may decide to keep it if we like the pinkish, sweeter fruit! In this area, the Wonderful seems to do well the past few years as we do get freezing temps in winter but if they die back, they come up the following year & then (if not another killing frost!) the next year produces fruit again. Any other ideas as to why a Wonderful (if it really is one!) would produce fruit like this ,,, soil, fertilizer, ?
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I would wonder what city you reside? What variety of pomegranate it is? I know a variety called Eversweet (DPUN050) can produce 2-3 crops annually in warmer parts of the southwest. The color difference could be more heat producing red. The smaller sized (fewer?) fruits could be due to lower energy reserves being used from the first crop. Usually this results in alternate bearing, but .... Your plan may work. You would have to cut the first round of flowers off. If you don't enjoy the first crop. Otherwise, you could either remove the second crop flowers or possibly add fertilizer (though this can have undesirable outcomes). Here is a link that might be useful: patent on Eversweet
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FWIW, the 1s my dad planted years ago did just fine - only 1 left now, but the fruit is very good, if not as smooth & pretty as the kind in the markets - likely because it receives no special care, other than keeping the rats off the fruit w/ a bait station. Sorry, I do not know the variety, but I believe he ordered them from Park Seed. This is located near salt water in Treasure Island, in sandy, shelly soil.
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gene_washdc
14 years ago
forever,
Are you sure that the mother is 'Wonderful'? I ask because the flower appears to be double--more than a single row of petals. All the pomegranates that are grown for fruit production, like 'wonderful', have single petal blooms. Decorative poms--some of which produce some fruit, some do not produce fruit--have the fuller blosom. It's still exciting to see the mutation though. I would caution regarding the red leaf pom. All poms leaf out with red on the leaves, then change over to some shade of green--so watch to see if the red stays through the entire season.
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sautesmom Sacramento
14 years ago
Yes--have you gotten fruit yet, from either the red or the white? It would be interesting to see if they taste good!
But they are absolutely beautiful plants even if they don't! Are all 3 reds double-flowered?

Carla in Sac
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forever_a_newbie_VA8
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks gene_washdc and Carla.

We got the original plant 7 or 8 years from a local nursery. I'm sure it said 'Wonderful'. It set one or two fruits the next year and it was a decent size and actually tasted OK. But then this poor plant has been moved many times and never set any fruit any more. Last year she seemed to recover and had more blooms than before but still no fruit.

of the 3 children, one bloomed red, one bloomed white and the 3rd one hasn't bloomed. But from the leaves I can tell it is likely a red. The mother and 2 children start with red leaves in the spring, however the white one starts with bright green leaves. I never saw red new growth on it. But eventually all 4 plants turn to green.

I don't know whether they will set fruits. Especially the white one.

Changsong
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