Breeding of grape varieties
Female grape varieties have always been very popular as mother varieties in the breeding of new varieties, as they did not have to be castrated and the lack of a male organ prevented undesirable self-pollination (self-fertilisation). This was possibly already practised in ancient times. However, due to the need for cross-fertilisation, such vines are unstable in terms of yield and often tend to coulure. One advantage is that the berries are generally larger, which is why female varieties are often used as table grapes. Fertilisation mainly takes place via wind from nearby vines with pollen from hermaphrodite flowers. If necessary, strong-flowering varieties are planted in the vineyard as cross-pollinators in or next to the row. Relatively few are sufficient as pollen suppliers. However, the time of flowering of the donor and recipient plants must roughly match (pollen is usually ripe somewhat earlier than the flower stigmas). Many rootstocks are also purely female or male, because fruit yield is not important for them.
Varieties
Purely female grape varieties are Alba Imputotato, Angur Kalan, Ardonnet, Arna-Grna, Bagrina, Bakator Kék, Bakator Roz, Barry, Bermestia Bianca, Bicane, Black Morocco, Blanc d'Ambre, Blatina, Blauer Augster, Bratkovina Crna, Brighton, Camaralet de Lasseube, Çavuş, Çavuş Pembe, Cetinka, Claverie Coulard, Coarnă Neagră, Coarnă Rosie, Crâmpoșie, Dattier Noir, Delago, Dišeca Ranina, Doux d'Henry, Dr. Deckerrebe, Duke of Buccleugh, François Noir, Fredonia, Fry, Gonfaus, Grk, Hartblau, Hebén, Herbert, Higgins, Hunt, Ichkimar, Jaeger 43, Jumbo, Katta Kurgan, Kefessiya, Kéknyelű, Kharistvala Meskhuri, Kober 5 BB, Kontegalo, Kossuth Lajos, Krkošija, Krona, Lambrusco di Sorbara, Lindley, Madeleine Angevine, Madeleine x Angevine 7672, Maratheftiko, Marufo, Moscatel Rosado, Munson, Negru Virtos, Nigheddu Polchinu, Ohanes, Ouliven, Palestina, Parmak Cerven, Paugayen, Perla dei Vivi, Picolit, Plechistik, Pukhliakovsky, Querol, Rosenmuskateller (1), Rosonadu, Șarbă, Sary Pandas, Schwarzer Heunisch, Scuppernong, Severny, Seyanets Malengra, Solonis, St. Pepin, Skylopnichtis, Sysak, Tavkveri, Taylor, Tigvoasa, Tintora, Torrontés Mendocino, White Augster, Zarya Severa and Zimmettraube.
Image 1, 3 and 4: M.I.P.A.A.F - National Vine Certification Service
Image 2: By Andrs.kovacs - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
