Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant on another

Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant on another

Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant on another

Sometimes we can breed one kind of plant on another. The result of such cross-breeding is known as a hybrid. In the animal kingdom the mule is a common example of this cross-breeding. Plant hybrids were formerly called mules also, but this suggestive term is almost out of use.

It is only when plants of two distinct kinds are crossed that the result is called a hybrid; for example, a blackjack oak on a white oak, an apple on a pear. If the parent plants are closely related, for example, two kinds of apples, the resulting plant is known simply as a cross.