The use of mentor pollination to facilitate wide hybridization in blueberry

Two diploid yellowleaf Vaccinium elliottii Chapmn. clones were pollinated w ith pollen from the tetraploid southern highbush cultivar 'Misty' (largely V, corymbosum L). These interspecific crosses, which normally yield few hyb rids because of a triploid block, were made with and without the use of V. elliottii mentor pollen mixed with V, corymbosum pollen. Mentoring had no e ffect on the number of hybrids produced when V, elliottii 'Silverhill' was the seed parent, but when V, elliottii 'Oleno' was the seed parent, no hybr ids were produced unless mentor pollen was utilized. The difference was pos tulated to be a greater ability to produce one-seeded berries in 'Silverhil l' than in 'Oleno'.