Flower-Colour Polymorphism in Lupinus pilosus in Israel

Four rare flower-colour mutants were detected in natural populations of Lupinus pilosus in Israel. The breeding systems and genetic bases of three oif them were examined. Mutants were tagged in wild populations and seed obtained upon open pollination was collected and grown in a, net house which was insect-proof. Mutant progenies were used in crosses with each other and with wild-type plants. Our results indicate the possibility that all three mutants are simple Mendelian recessives to the wild-type deep-violet colour and that in L. pilosus this colour is not monogenic but determined by at least two loci. All these mutants show a high degree of selling when open-pollinated in nature.