The flowers on the motherplant and the keiki are not the same!

[Saiva]

They are all three from an old stem so I guess it's the mutation theory then!

So, what my father has got is a completely new hybride?

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by Saiva

So, what my father has got is a completely new hybride?

no, that's nota new hybrid... there were no "father" and "mother" plants involved exchanging genetic material... As I said before a keiki is basically a clon of the "mother" plant, therefore it is exactly the same hybrid.... if indeed, you had a mutation (a very improbable episode, but not impossible, as I explainned) which furthermore drove the new plant to be of such a "good quality" (further more improbable, as most mutations are actually on the other direction - but that's another discussion theme), then your father got a new "clon" and can consider himself as very very very lucky (In Venezuela we would say, he should go and play the loterie right now!)

[dgenovese1]

Originally Posted by Saiva

They are all three from an old stem so I guess it's the mutation theory then!

So, what my father has got is a completely new hybride?

Hi Saiva,
What your father has is a completely new variation of the same hybrid, perhaps even a more desireable one, depending on your taste.
A new hybrid comes from the crossing of two different parents, a new variation would be similar to different expressions of the same cross...in humans it is comparable to siblings in a family. They have the same parents, only they look diffeent because the genetics are expressed differently.
In this case, the mutation appears because the genetics are being expressed differently on that particular plant.
It's all good no matter what.

In this case, variation, clone and cultivar mean the same thing...thanks kavanaru and Kat...you must have been typing at the same time I was.