Open-pollinated plants are true-to-type when grown from saved seed. Which statement best reflects this?

• A. They Are More Vigorous
• B. They Are True-to-Type
• C. They Are More Productive
• D. They Are More Uniform

Answer: (D)

Open-pollinated seeds come from plants that are pollinated by natural means within the population, so when you save seed and plant it again, the offspring tend to resemble the parent variety as a group. This produces a fairly uniform stand because the genetic mix comes from the same population and the same set of traits is repeatedly expressed across plants. However, because pollination is open and pollen can come from nearby plants, you won’t get exact copies of the parent plant every time—that’s why “true-to-type” isn’t guaranteed. The strongest characteristic you can count on with saved open-pollinated seed is that the resulting plants are more uniform in appearance and performance than seeds from mixed sources or highly outcrossed populations, making the crop easier to predict and manage.