Raphanobrassica

Raphanobrassica includes all intergeneric hybrids between the genera Raphanus (radish) and Brassica (cabbages, etc). The name comes from the combination of the genus names for radish and cabbage. Some botanists prefer the alternative name Brassicoraphanus.

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The first Raphanobrassica or "rabbage", an allopolyploid cross between the radish (Raphanus sativus) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea), was obtained by the Soviet agronomist Georgi Dmitrievich Karpechenko, in 1928.

Plants of this parentage are now known as radicole. Two other fertile forms of Raphanobrassica are known. Raparadish, an allopolyploid bybrid between Raphanus sativus and Brassica rapa is grown as a fodder crop. "Raphanofortii" is the allopolyploid hybrid between Brassica tournefortii and Raphanus caudatus.

For biologists, however, the Raphanobrassica is an extremely interesting plant, because in spite of its hybrid nature it is not sterile. This led some botanists to propose that the accidental hybridization of a flower by pollen of another species in nature could be a mechanism of speciation common in higher plants. Currently, it is thought that a great part of the flowering plants have some hybridization among their ancestors, particularly in the case of the orchids.

References

Karpechenko, G.D., Polyploid hybrids of Raphanus sativus X Brassica oleracea L., Bull. Appl. Bot. 17:305-408 (1927)