A Cytological Study of the Induced Octoploid of an Agropyron-Hordeum Hybrid

The occurrence of hybrids, both interspecific and intergeneric, is frequent in the Gramineae generally (Stebbins, 1949), and is especially common in the tribe Hordeae of which both A. trachycaulum and H. jubatum are members. Intergeneric hybrids in this tribe have been studied by Stebbins et al. (1946a, and 1946b), Stebbins and Walters (1949), and Stebbins and Singh (1950) in an effort to determine true phylogenetic relationships on which to base a taxonomic classification, and results of these studies have indicated that the current taxonomic treatment of this tribe is highly artificial. Attempts to produce a perennial wheat and improve forage grasses has lent additional stimulus to the study of crosses in the Hordeae. An excellent discussion and literature review on these studies is given by Myers (1947). (1947)