Rye, Oats, and many other plants became their modern selves due to accidental selection. A weed that can appear to be the intended crop will be rewarded by the farmer. Selection by human...
Rye, Oats, and many other plants became their modern selves due to accidental selection. A weed that can appear to be the intended crop will be rewarded by the farmer.
Selection by human machinery:
One case of Vavilovian mimicry is the gold-of-pleasure or false flax (Camelina sativa linicola), which looks much like the flax plant Linum usitatissimum, and occurs with it in the field. The gold-of-pleasure is a descendant of Camelina gabrata, a wild species; its subspecific name linicola means "the one that lives with flax". Weeding of the adult plant is impractical; instead they are separated based on properties of the seed. This is done by a winnowing machine, which in this case acts as an inanimate signal receiver. Seeds that are thrown the same distance as flax seeds have thus been selected for, making it near impossible to separate the seeds of these two species.
Selection by human vision:
Selection can also occur on the vegetative stage, through hand weeding. Weeding often takes place when the crop plant is very young, and most vulnerable. Echinochloa oryzoides, a species of grass which is found as a weed in rice (Oryza sativa) fields, looks similar to rice and its seeds are often mixed in rice and difficult to separate. This close similarity was enhanced by the weeding process which is a selective force that increases the similarity of the weed in each subsequent generation.
Rye, Oats, and many other plants became their modern selves due to accidental selection. A weed that can appear to be the intended crop will be rewarded by the farmer.
Selection by human machinery:
Selection by human vision: