Difference between revisions of "Talk:1766: Apple Spectrum"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Apple pollination)
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Has Randall ever explained why he doesn't like Red Delicious? Maybe not crisp enough? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.100|162.158.69.100]] 15:59, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
 
Has Randall ever explained why he doesn't like Red Delicious? Maybe not crisp enough? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.100|162.158.69.100]] 15:59, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
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The explanation says that  "Two (apple) trees of the same variety will not pollinate each other."  I am no botanist, but I'm not sure this is correct.  (The linked citation seems to blur the line between apple trees and fruit trees generally.)  I think they will pollinate each other, and will even produce fruit, but the resulting fruit will be 'unpredictable.'  No apple tree planted from seed will produce apples like its parent (except by chance), due to the heterozygosity mentioned above.  BTW, because apples will not "breed true," this also means that every store-bought apple we've ever eaten came from a cloned or grafted tree. Apples are weird.  [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 16:30, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Revision as of 16:30, 30 November 2016

Well, I did my best on explaining this one... Not really sure I got the Granny Smith part right. --Andyd273 (talk) 14:32, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Surely a desert island covered only in apple trees is not beyond all probabilities? Minimal (talk) 15:01, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

I believe his confusion on a desert island with one type of apple is because apples exhibit extreme heterozygosity meaning that any daughter apple tree will produce fruit extremely different from its parent; it would be difficult to have several plants in one area that are all the same that produce no differing offspring (at least on a deserted island...humans can intervene on actively managed orchards). Genetically, the apple does fall very far from the tree. 162.158.59.197 15:10, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

This is AMAZING. I had no idea. Apples --Jeff (talk) 15:16, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

What exactly does "doing their own thing" mean in this context? Drewthedude64 (talk) 15:20, 30 November 2016 (UTC)Drewthedude64

I'm assuming it means it was so different, that it couldn't be categorized by a low-high line (those 1-10 scales you see everywhere) --108.162.216.82 15:30, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
Granny Smith apples are green while the other apples in this comic are red. Also, Granny Smith apples are more tart than sweet...these two characteristics distinguish it from many other apple breeds and is probably why he says they are doing their own thing. 162.158.59.197 15:32, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall ever explained why he doesn't like Red Delicious? Maybe not crisp enough? 162.158.69.100 15:59, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

The explanation says that "Two (apple) trees of the same variety will not pollinate each other." I am no botanist, but I'm not sure this is correct. (The linked citation seems to blur the line between apple trees and fruit trees generally.) I think they will pollinate each other, and will even produce fruit, but the resulting fruit will be 'unpredictable.' No apple tree planted from seed will produce apples like its parent (except by chance), due to the heterozygosity mentioned above. BTW, because apples will not "breed true," this also means that every store-bought apple we've ever eaten came from a cloned or grafted tree. Apples are weird. Miamiclay (talk) 16:30, 30 November 2016 (UTC)