The Common Garden Study C. Wong, W. Gibble and C. Lyman

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Previous work terize the flowers and harvest for morphology During the summer of 2013, 513 plants from 10 loca- measurements. tions were characterized by color, tepal angle and Expected results tepal shape. Photo: Mike Marsh We will be able to compare traits of the seedlings be- Methods tween species and between or 10 sites. Background Seeds were collected in late summer 2013 and stored in Scenario 1: plants in the common garden will show sim- Sisyrinchium sarmentosum the Miller Seed Vault in the Douglas Research Conserva- ilar traits to each other, regardless of lineage. In this Suks. (ex. Greene) is a mem- tory. case, ber of the family and are known from  There is no genetic basis for the variations that we see in the field. # locations in south central and north cen-  Variations in phenotype seen in the field and genetic tral . S. sarmento- similarities within populations may be attributable to differences between sites. sum. A similar and more Seed pitting classifications from left to right: rough, fine and smooth. common species, Sisyrinchi-  Further studies to determine how the environment Seeds were characterized by coat coarseness and coat um idahoense E.P. Bicknell, affects phenotype would be a possible next step. color under a dissecting microscope. Ten collections occurs Scenario 2: plants in the common garden would retain from each population with in a wider geographical ar- their phenotypic differences seen in the field. In this greater than 15 seeds ea, encompassing the range case, were then bleached (11%) of S. sarmentosum. Variabil- SIID and SISA range overlap in and placed into petri dish-  There is a genetic basis for the differences in record- yellow (USDA 2014) ity was observed in one pop- es with filter paper which ed traits ulation ofS. sarmentosum, which led us to question were then placed into an  Site conditions do not affect the phenotype of the whether hybridization was occurring. incubator set for winter .

Purpose (5ºC, 8hour photoperiod).  Other traits could be looked at to distinguish the 1. To determine what features, if any, distinguish Seed dishes were watered two species, physiology for example. Sisyrinchium sarmentosum from Sisyrinchium ida- twice a week and checked References hoense. for germination once a Seeds waiting to be bleached Raven A. (2006). An Exploration of Possible Hybridization between Pale 2. To remove the environment as a factors as a factor week. Seed dishes with an Blue-Eyed Grass and Idaho Blue-Eyed Grass in Washington and Ore- gon. The Berry Botanic Garden. Portland OR. affecting phenotypic traits excessive amount of fungal growth were re-bleached using the same bleach solution and placed back into the Wilson, BL, DL Doede and VD Hipkins. 2000. Isozyme variation in Sisyrinchi- Previous studies um sarmentosum (Iridaceae). Northwest Science 74(4): 346-354. incubator. Henderson first described S. sarmentosum and 13 other Henderson, D.H. 1972. A Biosystematic Study of the Genus Sisyrinchium Next steps (Iridaceae) in the Pacific Northwest. PhD Thesis, University of Wash- species of Sisyrinchium in the Pacific Northwest. ington. 184 pp. We are currently waiting for the seeds to germinate. Raven (2006) looked at the variation of 5 populations of Thanks to Lauren Clark for your help with germination trials. Previous work by UWBG has indicated that seeds will S. sarmentosum and S. idahoense and was able to sug- germinate 12 weeks after sowing. gest possible differences between two species but due to low replication in some data sets was not able to find Once seeds germinate, they will be potted up and anything conclusive. placed into the wet beds behind the Douglas Green- house. The plants will sit in < 2cm of water. Covers have Isozyme work by Wilson et. al. (2001) found low genetic been constructed to prevent tampering by wildlife. diversity within populations of S. sarmentosum but saw high variance between populations. Over 1,000 S. sarmentosum, S. Idahoense and their hy- brids will be grown to flowering when we can charac- Got questions? Contact Christopher Wong at [email protected]