>> By that definition, nearly all seed from commercial packets is Open Pollinated.
Except for F1 hybrid seed, right?
>> the Wikipedia definition of Open Pollinated:
They are talking about the process or method by which some batch of plants were pollinated.
I think it is a crying shame that almost the same words are used to describe something very different: the genetic nature of a variety or cultivar, namely are they F1 hybrids or an OP variety.
It is true that most seed companies multiply OP varieties in isolated plots where wind and insects pollinate them out in the open.
It also seems that I'm the only one who cares about the distinction. Oh, well.
It also seems that no one has agreed that it would be nice if seed traders specified whether their seeds were "heavily cross-pollinated" or "probably mostly self-pollinated". Sigh! I guess I really am a nerd.
When I care, I should ask. Of course, I care every time something goes to seed and I grab some before it scatters. "Oh boy oh boy, I HAVE SEED!!"
In most trades and swaps that I've seen, hardly anyone says or asks about how much cross-pollination was likely.
My guess is that most seed traders who like a species of flowers, grow several varieties in one yard or one bed, and hence there is a little or a lot of cross-pollination in traded flower seeds.
My guess is that many traded, saved crop seeds happen to come from a patch with just that one variety of that species.
