A chance seedling is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

that is the product of unintentional breeding. Identifying the parent plants of a chance seedling may be difficult. It may be necessary to genetically analyse the seedling and surrounding plants to be sure. Plants that come from the artificial union of gametes from a maternal and paternal source are not chance seedlings. A chance seedling may be a genetically unique individual with desirable characteristics that is then intentionally bred. The Kindred Spirit Hybrid Oak and the

Granny Smith The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid ...

, Wolf River,

Lady Alice Lady Alice is Child ballad 85. It may be a fragment of a longer ballad that has not been preserved. Synopsis Lady Alice sees a corpse being carried by and is told it is her lover. She asks the bearers to leave the corpse, saying that she herself ...

Red Delicious Red Delicious is a type of apple with a red exterior and sweet taste that was first recognized in Madison County, Iowa, in 1872. Today, the name ''Red Delicious'' comprises more than 50 cultivars. From 1968 to 2018, it was the most produced cu ...

Gravenstein Gravenstein (Danish: ''Gråsten'', meaning "graystone", after Gråsten Palace) is a triploid apple cultivar that originated in the 17th century or earlier. The fruit has a tart flavor, and it is heavily used as a cooking apple, especially f ...

Braeburn The Braeburn is a cultivar of apple that is firm to the touch with a red/orange vertical streaky appearance on a yellow/green background. Its color intensity varies with different growing conditions. It was discovered as a chance seedling in ...

, Samarbehisht Chausa,

Calville Blanc d'hiver The Calville Blanc d'hiver (''White Winter Calville'') is an apple cultivar. It originated in France in the 17th century from a chance seedling. The older apple varieties that carry the name "Calville" was very popular in Germany and France and ...

Belle de Boskoop Belle de Boskoop (also called Goudrenet, Goudreinet or Goudreinnette) is an apple cultivar which originated in Boskoop, Netherlands, where it began as a chance seedling in 1856. Variants include Boskoop red, yellow and green. This rustic apple is ...

and Baldwin apples are examples of varieties that started with chance seedlings that were selected and assigned

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

status owing to their desirable properties.

See also

References

Further reading