I keep getting more confused. I thought that the categories for the different iris were defined, with clear defining characteristics. But I guess I'm wrong about that. So, if the plicata gene is recessive, (I guess to the self gene), then two self iris that are heterozygous for the plicata gene, would in fact produce 25% plicata offspring when crossed. Also, two iris that are homozygous for the plicata gene would always produce plicata offspring when crossed. I assume this has been tested and found accurate, otherwise the plicata gene is not recessive. Then there seems to be a plicata like phenotype that gets it's condition from another set of alleles, like the Emma Cook pattern, and maybe even another one called the Banded look. All three seem to have a similar phenotype (appearance), yet they may have a different genotype. At this point I did a bit of researching, and it seems that perhaps the plicata gene is really a set of 3 and maybe 4 alleles, thus a multiple gene inheritance structure, which is way more complicated then a simple dominant/recessive process. I think I'm in over my head! lol. I think I'll just go back to looking at the pretty flowers, and enjoying them.
