An underlay vine (also Teleki Kober 5 BB); see under Kober 5 BB.
The famous rootstock vine is an interspecific new variety between American wild vines of the species Vitis berlandieri x Vitis riparia; it is an all-female variety. Synonyms are 5 BB, 5 BB Selection Kober, Berlandieri x Riparia Kober 5 BB, C-25, Craciunel 25, Kober, Kobera 5 BB, Kobravka, Selektsii Kobera, Teleki 5 BB and Teleki Kober 5 BB. It is one of the first phylloxera-resistant rootstocks to achieve worldwide significance and is still used today in many countries in the form of various clones. Its history shows how time-consuming and complex the breeding of new vines is and how carefully and precisely it has to be done. All breeding processes must be meticulously documented.
The Hungarian vineyard owner Zsigmond Teleki (1854-1910) was not satisfied with the rootstock vines he was using, such as Solonis, and had learnt that the wild vine Vitis berlandieri and its hybrids were excellently suited to limestone soils. He obtained 22 pounds of seeds from the vine nursery operator Euryale Rességuier. The reason for this was that the movement of vine cuttings was severely restricted, at least between individual countries, due to the Reblausphylloxera...
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