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Chapter III
SCROPHULARIACEAE, GESNERIACEAE, LABIATAE, ETC.
Mimulus luteus; height, vigour, and fertility of the crossed and
self-fertilised plants of the first four generations.
Appearance of a new, tall, and highly self-fertile variety.
Offspring from a cross between self-fertilised plants.
Effects of a cross with a fresh stock.
Effects of crossing flowers on the same plant.
Summary on Mimulus luteus.
Digitalis purpurea, superiority of the crossed plants.
Effects of crossing flowers on the same plant.
Calceolaria.
Linaria vulgaris.
Verbascum thapsus.
Vandellia nummularifolia.
Cleistogene flowers.
Gesneria pendulina.
Salvia coccinea.
Origanum vulgare, great increase of the crossed plants by stolons.
Thunbergia alata.
In the family of the Scrophulariaceae I experimented on species in the
six following genera: Mimulus, Digitalis, Calceolaria, Linaria,
Verbascum, and Vandellia.
[3/2. SCROPHULARIACEAE.--Mimulus luteus.
The plants which I raised from purchased seed varied greatly in the
colour of their flowers, so that hardly two individuals were quite
alike; the corolla being of all shades of yellow, with the most
diversified blotches of purple, crimson, orange, and coppery brown. But
these plants differed in no other respect. (3/1. I sent several
specimens with variously coloured flowers to Kew, and Dr. Hooker informs
me that they all consisted of Mimulus luteus. The flowers with much red
have been named by horticulturists as var. Youngiana.) The flowers are
evidently well adapted for fertilisation by the agency of insects; and
in the case of a closely allied species, Mimulus rosea, I have watched
bees entering the flowers, thus getting their backs well dusted with
pollen; and when they entered another flower the pollen was licked off
their backs by the two-lipped stigma, the lips of which are irritable
and close like a forceps on the pollen-grains. If no pollen is enclosed
between the lips, these open again after a time. Mr. Kitchener has
ingeniously explained the use of these movements, namely, to prevent the
self-fertilisation of the flower. (3/2. 'A Year's Botany' 1874 page
118.) If a bee with no pollen on its back enters a flower it touches the
stigma, which quickly closes, and when the bee retires dusted with
pollen, it can leave none on the stigma of the same flower. But as soon
as it enters any other flower, plenty of pollen is left on the stigma,
which will be thus cross-fertilised. Nevertheless, if insects are
excluded, the flowers fertilise themselves perfectly and produce plenty
of seed; but I did not ascertain whether this is effected by the stamens
increasing in length with advancing age, or by the bending down of the
pistil. The chief interest in my experiments on the present species,
lies in the appearance in the fourth self-fertilised generation of a
variety which bore large peculiarly-coloured flowers, and grew to a
greater height than the other varieties; it likewise became more highly
self-fertile, so that this variety resembles the plant named Hero, which
appeared in the sixth self-fertilised generation of Ipomoea.
Some flowers on one of the plants raised from the purchased seeds were
fertilised with their own pollen; and others on the same plant were
crossed with pollen from a distinct plant. The seeds from twelve
capsules thus produced were placed in separate watch-glasses for
comparison; and those from the six crossed capsules appeared to the eye
hardly more numerous than those from the six self-fertilised capsules.
But when the seeds were weighed, those from the crossed capsules
amounted to 1.02 grain, whilst those from the self-fertilised capsules
were only .81 grain; so that the former were either heavier or more
numerous than the latter, in the ratio of 100 to 79.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE FIRST GENERATION.
Having ascertained, by leaving crossed and self-fertilised seed on damp
sand, that they germinated simultaneously, both kinds were thickly sown
on opposite sides of a broad and rather shallow pan; so that the two
sets of seedlings, which came up at the same time, were subjected to the
same unfavourable conditions. This was a bad method of treatment, but
this species was one of the first on which I experimented. When the
crossed seedlings were on an average half an inch high, the
self-fertilised ones were only a quarter of an inch high. When grown to
their full height under the above unfavourable conditions, the four
tallest crossed plants averaged 7.62, and the four tallest
self-fertilised 5.87 inches in height; or as 100 to 77. Ten flowers on
the crossed plants were fully expanded before one on the self-fertilised
plants. A few of these plants of both lots were transplanted into a
large pot with plenty of good earth, and the self-fertilised plants, not
now being subjected to severe competition, grew during the following
year as tall as the crossed plants; but from a case which follows it is
doubtful whether they would have long continued equal. Some flowers on
the crossed plants were crossed with pollen from another plant, and the
capsules thus produced contained a rather greater weight of seed than
those on the self-fertilised plants again self-fertilised.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE SECOND GENERATION.
Seeds from the foregoing plants, fertilised in the manner just stated,
were sown on the opposite sides of a small pot (1) and came up crowded.
The four tallest crossed seedlings, at the time of flowering, averaged 8
inches in height, whilst the four tallest self-fertilised plants
averaged only 4 inches. Crossed seeds were sown by themselves in a
second small pot, and self-fertilised seeds were sown by themselves in a
third small pot so that there was no competition whatever between these
two lots. Nevertheless the crossed plants grew from 1 to 2 inches higher
on an average than the self-fertilised. Both lots looked equally
vigorous, but the crossed plants flowered earlier and more profusely
than the self-fertilised. In Pot 1, in which the two lots competed with
each other, the crossed plants flowered first and produced a large
number of capsules, whilst the self-fertilised produced only nineteen.
The contents of twelve capsules from the crossed flowers on the crossed
plants, and of twelve capsules from self-fertilised flowers on the
self-fertilised plants, were placed in separate watch-glasses for
comparison; and the crossed seeds seemed more numerous by half than the
self-fertilised.
The plants on both sides of Pot 1, after they had seeded, were cut down
and transplanted into a large pot with plenty of good earth, and on the
following spring, when they had grown to a height of between 5 and 6
inches, the two lots were equal, as occurred in a similar experiment in
the last generation. But after some weeks the crossed plants exceeded
the self-fertilised ones on the opposite side of the same pot, though
not nearly to so great a degree as before, when they were subjected to
very severe competition.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE THIRD GENERATION.
Crossed seeds from the crossed plants, and self-fertilised seeds from
the self-fertilised plants of the last generation, were sown thickly on
opposite sides of a small pot, Number 1. The two tallest plants on each
side were measured after they had flowered, and the two crossed ones
were 12 and 7 1/2 inches, and the two self-fertilised ones 8 and 5 1/2
inches in height; that is, in the ratio of 100 to 69. Twenty flowers on
the crossed plants were again crossed and produced twenty capsules; ten
of which contained 1.33 grain weight of seeds. Thirty flowers on the
self-fertilised plants were again self-fertilised and produced
twenty-six capsules; ten of the best of which (many being very poor)
contained only .87 grain weight of seeds; that is, in the ratio of 100
to 65 by weight.
The superiority of the crossed over the self-fertilised plants was
proved in various ways. Self-fertilised seeds were sown on one side of a
pot, and two days afterwards crossed seeds on the opposite side. The two
lots of seedlings were equal until they were above half an inch high;
but when fully grown the two tallest crossed plants attained a height of
12 1/2 and 8 3/4 inches, whilst the two tallest self-fertilised plants
were only 8 and 5 1/2 inches high.
In a third pot, crossed seeds were sown four days after the
self-fertilised, and the seedlings from the latter had at first, as
might have been expected, an advantage; but when the two lots were
between 5 and 6 inches in height, they were equal, and ultimately the
three tallest crossed plants were 11, 10, and 8 inches, whilst the three
tallest self-fertilised were 12, 8 1/2, and 7 1/2 inches in height. So
that there was not much difference between them, the crossed plants
having an average advantage of only the third of an inch. The plants
were cut down, and without being disturbed were transplanted into a
larger pot. Thus the two lots started fair on the following spring, and
now the crossed plants showed their inherent superiority, for the two
tallest were 13 inches, whilst the two tallest self-fertilised plants
were only 11 and 8 1/2 inches in height; or as 100 to 75. The two lots
were allowed to fertilise themselves spontaneously: the crossed plants
produced a large number of capsules, whilst the self-fertilised produced
very few and poor ones. The seeds from eight of the capsules on the
crossed plants weighed .65 grain, whilst those from eight of the
capsules on the self-fertilised plants weighed only .22 grain; or as 100
to 34.
The crossed plants in the above three pots, as in almost all the
previous experiments, flowered before the self-fertilised. This occurred
even in the third pot in which the crossed seeds were sown four days
after the self-fertilised seeds.
Lastly, seeds of both lots were sown on opposite sides of a large pot in
which a Fuchsia had long been growing, so that the earth was full of
roots. Both lots grew miserably; but the crossed seedlings had an
advantage at all times, and ultimately attained to a height of 3 1/2
inches, whilst the self-fertilised seedlings never exceeded 1 inch. The
several foregoing experiments prove in a decisive manner the superiority
in constitutional vigour of the crossed over the self-fertilised plants.
In the three generations now described and taken together, the average
height of the ten tallest crossed plants was 8.19 inches, and that of
the ten tallest self-fertilised plants 5.29 inches (the plants having
been grown in small pots), or as 100 to 65.
In the next or fourth self-fertilised generation, several plants of a
new and tall variety appeared, which increased in the later
self-fertilised generations, owing to its great self-fertility, to the
complete exclusion of the original kinds. The same variety also appeared
amongst the crossed plants, but as it was not at first regarded with any
particular attention, I know not how far it was used for raising the
intercrossed plants; and in the later crossed generations it was rarely
present. Owing to the appearance of this tall variety, the comparison of
the crossed and self-fertilised plants of the fifth and succeeding
generations was rendered unfair, as all the self-fertilised and only a
few or none of the crossed plants consisted of it. Nevertheless, the
results of the later experiments are in some respects well worth giving.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE FOURTH GENERATION.
Seeds of the two kinds, produced in the usual way from the two sets of
plants of the third generation, were sown on opposite sides of two pots
(1 and 2); but the seedlings were not thinned enough and did not grow
well. Many of the self-fertilised plants, especially in one of the pots,
consisted of the new and tall variety above referred to, which bore
large and almost white flowers marked with crimson blotches. I will call
it the WHITE VARIETY. I believe that it first appeared amongst both the
crossed and self-fertilised plants of the last generation; but neither
my gardener nor myself could remember any such variety in the seedlings
raised from the purchased seed. It must therefore have arisen either
through ordinary variation, or, judging from its appearance amongst both
the crossed and self-fertilised plants, more probably through reversion
to a formerly existing variety.
In Pot 1 the tallest crossed plant was 8 1/2 inches, and the tallest
self-fertilised 5 inches in height. In Pot 2, the tallest crossed plant
was 6 1/2 inches, and the tallest self-fertilised plant, which consisted
of the white variety, 7 inches in height; and this was the first
instance in my experiments on Mimulus in which the tallest
self-fertilised plant exceeded the tallest crossed. Nevertheless, the
two tallest crossed plants taken together were to the two tallest
self-fertilised plants in height as 100 to 80. As yet the crossed plants
were superior to the self-fertilised in fertility; for twelve flowers on
the crossed plants were crossed and yielded ten capsules, the seeds of
which weighed 1.71 grain. Twenty flowers on the self-fertilised plants
were self-fertilised, and produced fifteen capsules, all appearing poor;
and the seeds from ten of them weighed only .68 grain, so that from an
equal number of capsules the crossed seeds were to the self-fertilised
in weight as 100 to 40.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE FIFTH GENERATION.
Seeds from both lots of the fourth generation, fertilised in the usual
manner, were sown on opposite sides of three pots. When the seedlings
flowered, most of the self-fertilised plants were found to consist of
the tall white variety. Several of the crossed plants in Pot 1 likewise
belonged to this variety, as did a very few in Pots 2 and 3. The tallest
crossed plant in Pot 1 was 7 inches, and the tallest self-fertilised
plant on the opposite side 8 inches; in Pots 2 and 3 the tallest crossed
were 4 1/2 and 5 1/2, and the tallest self-fertilised 7 and 6 1/2 inches
in height; so that the average height of the tallest plants in the two
lots was as 100 for the crossed to 126 for the self-fertilised; and thus
we have a complete reversal of what occurred in the four previous
generations. Nevertheless, in all three pots the crossed plants retained
their habit of flowering before the self-fertilised. The plants were
unhealthy from being crowded and from the extreme heat of the season,
and were in consequence more or less sterile; but the crossed plants
were somewhat less sterile than the self-fertilised plants.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE SIXTH GENERATION.
Seeds from plants of the fifth generation crossed and self-fertilised in
the usual manner were sown on opposite sides of several pots. On the
self-fertilised side every single plant belonged to the tall white
variety. On the crossed side some plants belonged to this variety, but
the greater number approached in character to the old and shorter kinds
with smaller yellowish flowers blotched with coppery brown. When the
plants on both sides were from 2 to 3 inches in height they were equal,
but when fully grown the self-fertilised were decidedly the tallest and
finest plants, but, from want of time, they were not actually measured.
In half the pots the first plant which flowered was a self-fertilised
one, and in the other half a crossed one. And now another remarkable
change was clearly perceived, namely, that the self-fertilised plants
had become more self-fertile than the crossed. The pots were all put
under a net to exclude insects, and the crossed plants produced
spontaneously only fifty-five capsules, whilst the self-fertilised
plants produced eighty-one capsules, or as 100 to 147. The seeds from
nine capsules of both lots were placed in separate watch-glasses for
comparison, and the self-fertilised appeared rather the more numerous.
Besides these spontaneously self-fertilised capsules, twenty flowers on
the crossed plants again crossed yielded sixteen capsules; twenty-five
flowers on the self-fertilised plants again self-fertilised yielded
seventeen capsules, and this is a larger proportional number of capsules
than was produced by the self-fertilised flowers on the self-fertilised
plants in the previous generations. The contents of ten capsules of both
these lots were compared in separate watch-glasses, and the seeds from
the self-fertilised appeared decidedly more numerous than those from the
crossed plants.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE SEVENTH GENERATION.
Crossed and self-fertilised seeds from the crossed and self-fertilised
plants of the sixth generation were sown in the usual manner on opposite
sides of three pots, and the seedlings were well and equally thinned.
Every one of the self-fertilised plants (and many were raised) in this,
as well as in the eighth and ninth generations, belonged to the tall
white variety. Their uniformity of character, in comparison with the
seedlings first raised from the purchased seed, was quite remarkable. On
the other hand, the crossed plants differed much in the tints of their
flowers, but not, I think, to so great a degree as those first raised. I
determined this time to measure the plants on both sides carefully. The
self-fertilised seedlings came up rather before the crossed, but both
lots were for a time of equal height. When first measured, the average
height of the six tallest crossed plants in the three pots was 7.02, and
that of the six tallest self-fertilised plants 8.97 inches, or as 100 to
128. When fully grown the same plants were again measured, with the
result shown in Table 3/18.
TABLE 3/18. Mimulus luteus (Seventh Generation).
Heights of Plants in inches:
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Crossed Plants.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants.
Pot 1 : 11 2/8 : 19 1/8.
Pot 1 : 11 7/8 : 18.
Pot 2 : 12 6/8 : 18 2/8.
Pot 2 : 11 2/8 : 14 6/8.
Pot 3 : 9 6/8 : 12 6/8.
Pot 3 : 11 6/8 : 11.
Total : 68.63 : 93.88.
The average height of the six crossed is here 11.43, and that of the six
self-fertilised 15.64, or as 100 to 137.
As it is now evident that the tall white variety transmitted its
characters faithfully, and as the self-fertilised plants consisted
exclusively of this variety, it was manifest that they would always
exceed in height the crossed plants which belonged chiefly to the
original shorter varieties. This line of experiment was therefore
discontinued, and I tried whether intercrossing two self-fertilised
plants of the sixth generation, growing in distinct pots, would give
their offspring any advantage over the offspring of flowers on one of
the same plants fertilised with their own pollen. These latter seedlings
formed the seventh generation of self-fertilised plants, like those in
the right hand column in Table 3/18; the crossed plants were the product
of six previous self-fertilised generations with an intercross in the
last generation. The seeds were allowed to germinate on sand, and were
planted in pairs on opposite sides of four pots, all the remaining seeds
being sown crowded on opposite sides of Pot 5 in Table 3/19; the three
tallest on each side in this latter pot being alone measured. All the
plants were twice measured--the first time whilst young, and the average
height of the crossed plants to that of the self-fertilised was then as
100 to 122. When fully grown they were again measured, as in Table 3/19.
TABLE 3/19. Mimulus luteus.
Heights of Plants in inches:
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Intercrossed Plants from Self-fertilised Plants of the Sixth
Generation.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants of the Seventh Generation.
Pot 1 : 12 6/8 : 15 2/8.
Pot 1 : 10 4/8 : 11 5/8.
Pot 1 : 10 : 11.
Pot 1 : 14 5/8 : 11.
Pot 2 : 10 2/8 : 11 3/8.
Pot 2 : 7 6/8 : 11 4/8.
Pot 2 : 12 1/8 : 8 5/8.
Pot 2 : 7 : 14 3/8.
Pot 3 : 13 5/8 : 10 3/8.
Pot 3 : 12 2/8 : 11 6/8.
Pot 4 : 7 1/8 : 14 6/8.
Pot 4 : 8 2/8 : 7.
Pot 4 : 7 2/8 : 8.
Pot 5 : 8 5/8 : 10 2/8
Pot 5 : 9 : 9 3/8.
Pot 5 : 8 2/8 : 9 2/8.
Crowded.
Total : 159.38 : 175.50.
The average height of the sixteen intercrossed plants is here 9.96
inches, and that of the sixteen self-fertilised plants 10.96, or as 100
to 110; so that the intercrossed plants, the progenitors of which had
been self-fertilised for the six previous generations, and had been
exposed during the whole time to remarkably uniform conditions, were
somewhat inferior in height to the plants of the seventh self-fertilised
generation. But as we shall presently see that a similar experiment made
after two additional generations of self-fertilisation gave a different
result, I know not how far to trust the present one. In three of the
five pots in Table 3/19 a self-fertilised plant flowered first, and in
the other two a crossed plant. These self-fertilised plants were
remarkably fertile, for twenty flowers fertilised with their own pollen
produced no less than nineteen very fine capsules!
THE EFFECTS OF A CROSS WITH A DISTINCT STOCK.
Some flowers on the self-fertilised plants in Pot 4 in Table 3/19 were
fertilised with their own pollen, and plants of the eighth
self-fertilised generation were thus raised, merely to serve as parents
in the following experiment. Several flowers on these plants were
allowed to fertilise themselves spontaneously (insects being of course
excluded), and the plants raised from these seeds formed the ninth
self-fertilised generation; they consisted wholly of the tall white
variety with crimson blotches. Other flowers on the same plants of the
eighth self-fertilised generation were crossed with pollen taken from
another plant of the same lot; so that the seedlings thus raised were
the offspring of eight previous generations of self-fertilisation with
an intercross in the last generation; these I will call the INTERCROSSED
PLANTS. Lastly, other flowers on the same plants of the eighth
self-fertilised generation were crossed with pollen taken from plants
which had been raised from seed procured from a garden at Chelsea. The
Chelsea plants bore yellow flowers blotched with red, but differed in no
other respect. They had been grown out of doors, whilst mine had been
cultivated in pots in the greenhouse for the last eight generations, and
in a different kind of soil. The seedlings raised from this cross with a
wholly different stock may be called the CHELSEA-CROSSED. The three lots
of seeds thus obtained were allowed to germinate on bare sand; and
whenever a seed in all three lots, or in only two, germinated at the
same time, they were planted in pots superficially divided into three or
two compartments. The remaining seeds, whether or not in a state of
germination, were thickly sown in three divisions in a large pot, 10, in
Table 3/20. When the plants had grown to their full height they were
measured, as shown in Table 3/20; but only the three tallest plants in
each of the three divisions in Pot 10 were measured.
TABLE 3/20. Mimulus luteus.
Heights of Plants in inches:
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Plants from Self-fertilised Plants of the Eighth Generation
crossed by Chelsea Plants.
Column 3: Plants from an intercross between the Plants of the Eighth
Self-fertilised Generation.
Column 4: Self-fertilised Plants of the Ninth Generation from Plants of
the Eighth Self-fertilised Generation.
Pot 1 : 30 7/8 : 14 : 9 4/8.
Pot 1 : 28 3/8 : 13 6/8 : 10 5/8.
Pot 1 : -- : 13 7/8 : 10.
Pot 2 : 20 6/8 : 11 4/8 : 11 6/8.
Pot 2 : 22 2/8 : 12 : 12 3/8.
Pot 2 : -- : 9 1/8 : --.
Pot 3 : 23 6/8 : 12 2/8 : 8 5/8.
Pot 3 : 24 1/8 : -- : 11 4/8.
Pot 3 : 25 6/8 : -- : 6 7/8.
Pot 4 : 22 5/8 : 9 2/8 : 4.
Pot 4 : 22 : 8 1/8 : 13 3/8.
Pot 4 : 17 : -- : 11.
Pot 5 : 22 3/8 : 9 : 4 4/8.
Pot 5 : 19 5/8 : 11 : 13.
Pot 5 : 23 4/8 : -- : 13 4/8.
Pot 6 : 28 2/8 : 18 6/8 : 12.
Pot 6 : 22 : 7 : 16 1/8.
Pot 6 : -- : 12 4/8 : --.
Pot 7 : 12 4/8 : 15 : --.
Pot 7 : 24 3/8 : 12 3/8 : --.
Pot 7 : 20 4/8 : 11 2/8 : --.
Pot 7 : 26 4/8 : 15 2/8 : --.
Pot 8 : 17 2/8 : 13 3/8 : --.
Pot 8 : 22 6/8 : 14 5/8 : --.
Pot 8 : 27 : 14 3/8 : --.
Pot 9 : 22 6/8 : 11 6/8 : --.
Pot 9 : 6 : 17 : --.
Pot 9 : 20 2/8 : 14 7/8 : --.
Pot 10 : 18 1/8 : 9 2/8 : 10 3/8.
Pot 10 : 16 5/8 : 8 2/8 : 8 1/8.
Pot 10 : 17 4/8 : 10 : 11 2/8.
Crowded plants.
Total : 605.38 : 329.50 : 198.50.
In this table the average height of the twenty-eight Chelsea-crossed
plants is 21.62 inches; that of the twenty-seven intercrossed plants
12.2; and that of the nineteen self-fertilised 10.44. But with respect
to the latter it will be the fairest plan to strike out two dwarfed ones
(only 4 inches in height), so as not to exaggerate the inferiority of
the self-fertilised plants; and this will raise the average height of
the seventeen remaining self-fertilised plants to 11.2 inches. Therefore
the Chelsea-crossed are to the intercrossed in height as 100 to 56; the
Chelsea-crossed to the self-fertilised as 100 to 52; and the
intercrossed to the self-fertilised as 100 to 92. We thus see how
immensely superior in height the Chelsea-crossed are to the intercrossed
and to the self-fertilised plants. They began to show their superiority
when only one inch high. They were also, when fully grown, much more
branched with larger leaves and somewhat larger flowers than the plants
of the other two lots, so that if they had been weighed, the ratio would
certainly have been much higher than that of 100 to 56 and 52.
The intercrossed plants are here to the self-fertilised in height as 100
to 92; whereas in the analogous experiment given in Table 3/19 the
intercrossed plants from the self-fertilised plants of the sixth
generation were inferior in height to the self-fertilised plants in the
ratio of 100 to 110. I doubt whether this discordance in the results of
the two experiments can be explained by the self-fertilised plants in
the present case having been raised from spontaneously self-fertilised
seeds, whereas in the former case they were raised from artificially
self-fertilised seeds; nor by the present plants having been
self-fertilised during two additional generations, though this is a more
probable explanation.
With respect to fertility, the twenty-eight Chelsea-crossed plants
produced 272 capsules; the twenty-seven intercrossed plants produced 24;
and the seventeen self-fertilised plants 17 capsules. All the plants
were left uncovered so as to be naturally fertilised, and empty capsules
were rejected.
Therefore 20 Chelsea-crossed plants would have produced 194.29 capsules.
Therefore 20 Intercrossed plants would have produced 17.77 capsules.
Therefore 20 Self-fertilised plants would have produced 20.00 capsules.
The seeds contained in 8 capsules from the Chelsea-crossed plants
weighed 1.1 grains.
The seeds contained in 8 capsules from the Intercrossed plants weighed
0.51 grains.
The seeds contained in 8 capsules from the Self-fertilised plants
weighed 0.33 grains.
If we combine the number of capsules produced together with the average
weight of contained seeds, we get the following extraordinary ratios:
Weight of seed produced by the same number of Chelsea-crossed and
intercrossed plants as 100 to 4.
Weight of seed produced by the same number of Chelsea-crossed and
self-fertilised plants as 100 to 3.
Weight of seeds produced by the same number of intercrossed and
self-fertilised plants as 100 to 73.
It is also a remarkable fact that the Chelsea-crossed plants exceeded
the two other lots in hardiness, as greatly as they did in height,
luxuriance, and fertility. In the early autumn most of the pots were
bedded out in the open ground; and this always injures plants which have
been long kept in a warm greenhouse. All three lots consequently
suffered greatly, but the Chelsea-crossed plants much less than the
other two lots. On the 3rd of October the Chelsea-crossed plants began
to flower again, and continued to do so for some time; whilst not a
single flower was produced by the plants of the other two lots, the
stems of which were cut almost down to the ground and seemed half dead.
Early in December there was a sharp frost, and the stems of
Chelsea-crossed were now cut down; but on the 23rd of December they
began to shoot up again from the roots, whilst all the plants of the
other two lots were quite dead.
Although several of the self-fertilised seeds, from which the plants in
the right hand column in Table 3/20 were raised, germinated (and were of
course rejected) before any of those of the other two lots, yet in only
one of the ten pots did a self-fertilised plant flower before the
Chelsea-crossed or the intercrossed plants growing in the same pots. The
plants of these two latter lots flowered at the same time, though the
Chelsea-crossed grew so much taller and more vigorously than the
intercrossed.
As already stated, the flowers of the plants originally raised from the
Chelsea seeds were yellow; and it deserves notice that every one of the
twenty-eight seedlings raised from the tall white variety fertilised,
without being castrated, with pollen from the Chelsea plants, produced
yellow flowers; and this shows how prepotent this colour, which is the
natural one of the species, is over the white colour.
THE EFFECTS ON THE OFFSPRING OF INTERCROSSING FLOWERS ON THE SAME PLANT,
INSTEAD OF CROSSING DISTINCT INDIVIDUALS.
In all the foregoing experiments the crossed plants were the product of
a cross between distinct plants. I now selected a very vigorous plant in
Table 3/20, raised by fertilising a plant of the eighth self-fertilised
generation with pollen from the Chelsea stock. Several flowers on this
plant were crossed with pollen from other flowers on the same plant, and
several other flowers were fertilised with their own pollen. The seed
thus produced was allowed to germinate on bare sand; and the seedlings
were planted in the usual manner on the opposite sides of six pots. All
the remaining seeds, whether or not in a state of germination, were sown
thickly in Pot 7; the three tallest plants on each side of this latter
pot being alone measured. As I was in a hurry to learn the result, some
of these seeds were sown late in the autumn, but the plants grew so
irregularly during the winter, that one crossed plant was 28 1/2 inches,
and two others only 4, or less than 4 inches in height, as may be seen
in Table 3/21. Under such circumstances, as I have observed in many
other cases, the result is not in the least trustworthy; nevertheless I
feel bound to give the measurements.
TABLE 3/21. Mimulus luteus.
Heights of Plants in inches:
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Plants raised from a Cross between different Flowers on the
same Plant.
Column 3: Plants raised from Flowers fertilised with their own Pollen.
Pot 1 : 17 : 17.
Pot 1 : 9 : 3 1/8.
Pot 2 : 28 2/8 : 19 1/8.
Pot 2 : 16 4/8 : 6.
Pot 2 : 13 5/8 : 2.
Pot 3 : 4 : 15 6/8.
Pot 3 : 2 2/8 : 10.
Pot 4 : 23 4/8 : 6 2/8.
Pot 4 : 15 4/8 : 7 1/8.
Pot 5 : 7 : 13 4/8.
Pot 6 : 18 3/8 : 1 4/8.
Pot 6 : 11 : 2.
Pot 7 : 21 : 15 1/8.
Pot 7 : 11 6/8 : 11.
Pot 7 : 12 1/8 : 11 2/8.
Crowded.
Total : 210.88 : 140.75.
The fifteen crossed plants here average 14.05, and the fifteen
self-fertilised plants 9.38 in height, or as 100 to 67. But if all the
plants under ten inches in height are struck out, the ratio of the
eleven crossed plants to the eight self-fertilised plants is as 100 to
82.
On the following spring, some remaining seeds of the two lots were
treated in exactly the same manner; and the measurements of the
seedlings are given in Table 3/22.
TABLE 3/22. Mimulus luteus.
Heights of Plants in inches:
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Plants raised from a Cross between different Flowers on the
same Plant.
Column 3: Plants raised from Flowers fertilised with their own Pollen.
Pot 1 : 15 1/8 : 19 1/8.
Pot 1 : 12 : 20 5/8.
Pot 1 : 10 1/8 : 12 6/8.
Pot 2 : 16 2/8 : 11 2/8.
Pot 2 : 13 5/8 : 19 3/8.
Pot 2 : 20 1/8 : 17 4/8.
Pot 3 : 18 7/8 : 12 6/8.
Pot 3 : 15 : 15 6/8.
Pot 3 : 13 7/8 : 17.
Pot 4 : 19 2/8 : 16 2/8.
Pot 4 : 19 6/8 : 21 5/8.
Pot 5 : 25 3/8 : 22 5/8.
Pot 6 : 15 : 19 5/8.
Pot 6 : 20 2/8 : 16 2/8.
Pot 6 : 27 2/8 : 19 5/8.
Pot 7 : 7 6/8 : 7 6/8.
Pot 7 : 14 : 8.
Pot 7 : 13 4/8 : 7.
Pot 8 : 18 2/8 : 20 3/8.
Pot 8 : 18 6/8 : 17 6/8.
Pot 8 : 18 3/8 : 15 4/8.
Pot 8 : 18 3/8 : 15 1/8.
Crowded.
Total : 370.88 : 353.63.
Here the average height of the twenty-two crossed plants is 16.85, and
that of the twenty-two self-fertilised plants 16.07; or as 100 to 95.
But if four of the plants in Pot 7, which are much shorter than any of
the others, are struck out (and this would be the fairest plan), the
twenty-one crossed are to the nineteen self-fertilised plants in height
as 100 to 100.6--that is, are equal. All the plants, except the crowded
ones in Pot 8, after being measured were cut down, and the eighteen
crossed plants weighed 10 ounces, whilst the same number of
self-fertilised plants weighed 10 1/4 ounces, or as 100 to 102.5; but if
the dwarfed plants in Pot 7 had been excluded, the self-fertilised would
have exceeded the crossed in weight in a higher ratio. In all the
previous experiments in which seedlings were raised from a cross between
distinct plants, and were put into competition with self-fertilised
plants, the former generally flowered first; but in the present case, in
seven out of the eight pots a self-fertilised plant flowered before a
crossed one on the opposite side. Considering all the evidence with
respect to the plants in Table3/ 22, a cross between two flowers on the
same plant seems to give no advantage to the offspring thus produced,
the self-fertilised plants being in weight superior. But this conclusion
cannot be absolutely trusted, owing to the measurements given in Table
3/21, though these latter, from the cause already assigned, are very
much less trustworthy than the present ones.]
SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS ON Mimulus luteus.
In the three first generations of crossed and self-fertilised plants,
the tallest plants alone on each side of the several pots were measured;
and the average height of the ten crossed to that of the ten
self-fertilised plants was as 100 to 64. The crossed were also much more
fertile than the self-fertilised, and so much more vigorous that they
exceeded them in height, even when sown on the opposite side of the same
pot after an interval of four days. The same superiority was likewise
shown in a remarkable manner when both kinds of seeds were sown on the
opposite sides of a pot with very poor earth full of the roots of
another plant. In one instance crossed and self-fertilised seedlings,
grown in rich soil and not put into competition with each other,
attained to an equal height. When we come to the fourth generation the
two tallest crossed plants taken together exceeded by only a little the
two tallest self-fertilised plants, and one of the latter beat its
crossed opponent,--a circumstance which had not occurred in the previous
generations. This victorious self-fertilised plant consisted of a new
white-flowered variety, which grew taller than the old yellowish
varieties. From the first it seemed to be rather more fertile, when
self-fertilised, than the old varieties, and in the succeeding
self-fertilised generations became more and more self-fertile. In the
sixth generation the self-fertilised plants of this variety compared
with the crossed plants produced capsules in the proportion of 147 to
100, both lots being allowed to fertilise themselves spontaneously. In
the seventh generation twenty flowers on one of these plants
artificially self-fertilised yielded no less than nineteen very fine
capsules!
This variety transmitted its characters so faithfully to all the
succeeding self-fertilised generations, up to the last or ninth, that
all the many plants which were raised presented a complete uniformity of
character; thus offering a remarkable contrast with the seedlings raised
from the purchased seeds. Yet this variety retained to the last a latent
tendency to produce yellow flowers; for when a plant of the eighth
self-fertilised generation was crossed with pollen from a
yellow-flowered plant of the Chelsea stock, every single seedling bore
yellow flowers. A similar variety, at least in the colour of its
flowers, also appeared amongst the crossed plants of the third
generation. No attention was at first paid to it, and I know not how far
it was at first used either for crossing or self-fertilisation. In the
fifth generation most of the self-fertilised plants, and in the sixth
and all the succeeding generations every single plant consisted of this
variety; and this no doubt was partly due to its great and increasing
self-fertility. On the other hand, it disappeared from amongst the
crossed plants in the later generations; and this was probably due to
the continued intercrossing of the several plants. From the tallness of
this variety, the self-fertilised plants exceeded the crossed plants in
height in all the generations from the fifth to the seventh inclusive;
and no doubt would have done so in the later generations, had they been
grown in competition with one another. In the fifth generation the
crossed plants were in height to the self-fertilised, as 100 to 126; in
the sixth, as 100 to 147; and in the seventh generation, as 100 to 137.
This excess of height may be attributed not only to this variety
naturally growing taller than the other plants, but to its possessing a
peculiar constitution, so that it did not suffer from continued
self-fertilisation.
This variety presents a strikingly analogous case to that of the plant
called the Hero, which appeared in the sixth self-fertilised generation
of Ipomoea. If the seeds produced by Hero had been as greatly in excess
of those produced by the other plants, as was the case with Mimulus, and
if all the seeds had been mingled together, the offspring of Hero would
have increased to the entire exclusion of the ordinary plants in the
later self-fertilised generations, and from naturally growing taller
would have exceeded the crossed plants in height in each succeeding
generation.
Some of the self-fertilised plants of the sixth generation were
intercrossed, as were some in the eighth generation; and the seedlings
from these crosses were grown in competition with self-fertilised plants
of the two corresponding generations. In the first trial the
intercrossed plants were less fertile than the self-fertilised, and less
tall in the ratio of 100 to 110. In the second trial, the intercrossed
plants were more fertile than the self-fertilised in the ratio of 100 to
73, and taller in the ratio of 100 to 92. Notwithstanding that the
self-fertilised plants in the second trial were the product of two
additional generations of self-fertilisation, I cannot understand this
discordance in the results of the two analogous experiments.
The most important of all the experiments on Mimulus are those in which
flowers on plants of the eighth self-fertilised generation were again
self-fertilised; other flowers on distinct plants of the same lot were
intercrossed; and others were crossed with a new stock of plants from
Chelsea. The Chelsea-crossed seedlings were to the intercrossed in
height as 100 to 56, and in fertility as 100 to 4; and they were to the
self-fertilised plants, in height as 100 to 52, and in fertility as 100
to 3. These Chelsea-crossed plants were also much more hardy than the
plants of the other two lots; so that altogether the gain from the cross
with a fresh stock was wonderfully great.
Lastly, seedlings raised from a cross between flowers on the same plant
were not superior to those from flowers fertilised with their own
pollen; but this result cannot be absolutely trusted, owing to some
previous observations, which, however, were made under very unfavourable
circumstances.
[Digitalis purpurea.
The flowers of the common Foxglove are proterandrous; that is, the
pollen is mature and mostly shed before the stigma of the same flower is
ready for fertilisation. This is effected by the larger humble-bees,
which, whilst in search of nectar, carry pollen from flower to flower.
The two upper and longer stamens shed their pollen before the two lower
and shorter ones. The meaning of this fact probably is, as Dr. Ogle
remarks, that the anthers of the longer stamens stand near to the
stigma, so that they would be the most likely to fertilise it (3/3.
'Popular Science Review' January 1870 page 50.); and as it is an
advantage to avoid self-fertilisation, they shed their pollen first,
thus lessening the chance. There is, however, but little danger of
self-fertilisation until the bifid stigma opens; for Hildebrand found
that pollen placed on the stigma before it had opened produced no
effect. (3/4. 'Geschlechter-Vertheilung bei den Pflanzen' 1867 page 20.)
The anthers, which are large, stand at first transversely with respect
to the tubular corolla, and if they were to dehisce in this position
they would, as Dr. Ogle also remarks, smear with pollen the whole back
and sides of an entering humble-bee in a useless manner; but the anthers
twist round and place themselves longitudinally before they dehisce. The
lower and inner side of the mouth of the corolla is thickly clothed with
hairs, and these collect so much of the fallen pollen that I have seen
the under surface of a humble-bee thickly dusted with it; but this can
never be applied to the stigma, as the bees in retreating do not turn
their under surfaces upwards. I was therefore puzzled whether these
hairs were of any use; but Mr. Belt has, I think, explained their use:
the smaller kinds of bees are not fitted to fertilise the flowers, and
if they were allowed to enter easily they would steal much nectar, and
fewer large bees would haunt the flowers. Humble-bees can crawl into the
dependent flowers with the greatest ease, using the "hairs as footholds
while sucking the honey; but the smaller bees are impeded by them, and
when, having at length struggled through them, they reach the slippery
precipice above, they are completely baffled." Mr. Belt says that he
watched many flowers during a whole season in North Wales, and "only
once saw a small bee reach the nectary, though many were seen trying in
vain to do so." (3/5. 'The Naturalist in Nicaragua' 1874 page 132. But
it appears from H. Muller 'Die Befruchtung der Blumen' 1873 page 285,
that small insects sometimes succeed in entering the flowers.)
I covered a plant growing in its native soil in North Wales with a net,
and fertilised six flowers each with its own pollen, and six others with
pollen from a distinct plant growing within the distance of a few feet.
The covered plant was occasionally shaken with violence, so as to
imitate the effects of a gale of wind, and thus to facilitate as far as
possible self-fertilisation. It bore ninety-two flowers (besides the
dozen artificially fertilised), and of these only twenty-four produced
capsules; whereas almost all the flowers on the surrounding uncovered
plants were fruitful. Of the twenty-four spontaneously self-fertilised
capsules, only two contained their full complement of seed; six
contained a moderate supply; and the remaining sixteen extremely few
seeds. A little pollen adhering to the anthers after they had dehisced,
and accidentally falling on the stigma when mature, must have been the
means by which the above twenty-four flowers were partially
self-fertilised; for the margins of the corolla in withering do not curl
inwards, nor do the flowers in dropping off turn round on their axes, so
as to bring the pollen-covered hairs, with which the lower surface is
clothed, into contact with the stigma--by either of which means
self-fertilisation might be effected.
Seeds from the above crossed and self-fertilised capsules, after
germinating on bare sand, were planted in pairs on the opposite sides of
five moderately-sized pots, which were kept in the greenhouse. The
plants after a time appeared starved, and were therefore, without being
disturbed, turned out of their pots, and planted in the open ground in
two close parallel rows. They were thus subjected to tolerably severe
competition with one another; but not nearly so severe as if they had
been left in the pots. At the time when they were turned out, their
leaves were between 5 and 8 inches in length, and the longest leaf on
the finest plant on each side of each pot was measured, with the result
that the leaves of the crossed plants exceeded, on an average, those of
the self-fertilised plants by .4 of an inch.
In the following summer the tallest flower-stem on each plant, when
fully grown, was measured. There were seventeen crossed plants; but one
did not produce a flower-stem. There were also, originally, seventeen
self-fertilised plants, but these had such poor constitutions that no
less than nine died in the course of the winter and spring, leaving only
eight to be measured, as in Table 3/23.
TABLE 3/23. Digitalis purpurea.
The tallest Flower-stem on each Plant measured in inches: 0 means that
the Plant died before a Flower-stem was produced.
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Crossed Plants.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants.
Pot 1 : 53 6/8 : 27 4/8.
Pot 1 : 57 4/8 : 55 6/8.
Pot 1 : 57 6/8 : 0.
Pot 1 : 65 : 0.
Pot 2 : 34 4/8 : 39.
Pot 2 : 52 4/8 : 32.
Pot 2 : 63 6/8 : 21.
Pot 3 : 57 4/8 : 53 4/8.
Pot 3 : 53 4/8 : 0.
Pot 3 : 50 6/8 : 0.
Pot 3 : 37 2/8 : 0.
Pot 4 : 64 4/8 : 34 4/8.
Pot 4 : 37 4/8 : 23 6/8.
Pot 4 : -- : 0.
Pot 5 : 53 : 0.
Pot 5 : 47 6/8 : 0.
Pot 5 : 34 6/8 : 0.
Total : 821.25 : 287.00.
The average height of the flower-stems of the sixteen crossed plants is
here 51.33 inches; and that of the eight self-fertilised plants, 35.87;
or as 100 to 70. But this difference in height does not give at all a
fair idea of the vast superiority of the crossed plants. These latter
produced altogether sixty-four flower-stems, each plant producing, on an
average, exactly four flower-stems, whereas the eight self-fertilised
plants produced only fifteen flower-stems, each producing an average
only of 1.87 stems, and these had a less luxuriant appearance. We may
put the result in another way: the number of flower-stems on the crossed
plants was to those on an equal number of self-fertilised plants as 100
to 48.
Three crossed seeds in a state of germination were also planted in three
separate pots; and three self-fertilised seeds in the same state in
three other pots. These plants were therefore at first exposed to no
competition with one another, and when turned out of their pots into the
open ground they were planted at a moderate distance apart, so that they
were exposed to much less severe competition than in the last case. The
longest leaves on the three crossed plants, when turned out, exceeded
those on the self-fertilised plants by a mere trifle, namely, on an
average by .17 of an inch. When fully grown the three crossed plants
produced twenty-six flower-stems; the two tallest of which on each plant
were on an average 54.04 inches in height. The three self-fertilised
plants produced twenty-three flower-stems, the two tallest of which on
each plant had an average height of 46.18 inches. So that the difference
between these two lots, which hardly competed together, is much less
than in the last case when there was moderately severe competition,
namely, as 100 to 85, instead of as 100 to 70.
THE EFFECTS ON THE OFFSPRING OF INTERCROSSING DIFFERENT FLOWERS ON THE
SAME PLANT, INSTEAD OF CROSSING DISTINCT INDIVIDUALS.
A fine plant growing in my garden (one of the foregoing seedlings) was
covered with a net, and six flowers were crossed with pollen from
another flower on the same plant, and six others were fertilised with
their own pollen. All produced good capsules. The seeds from each were
placed in separate watch-glasses, and no difference could be perceived
by the eye between the two lots of seeds; and when they were weighed
there was no difference of any significance, as the seeds from the
self-fertilised capsules weighed 7.65 grains, whilst those from the
crossed capsules weighed 7.7 grains. Therefore the sterility of the
present species, when insects are excluded, is not due to the impotence
of pollen on the stigma of the same flower. Both lots of seeds and
seedlings were treated in exactly the same manner as in Table 3/23,
excepting that after the pairs of germinating seeds had been planted on
the opposite sides of eight pots, all the remaining seeds were thickly
sown on the opposite sides of Pots 9 and 10 in Table 3/24. The young
plants during the following spring were turned out of their pots,
without being disturbed, and planted in the open ground in two rows, not
very close together, so that they were subjected to only moderately
severe competition with one another. Very differently to what occurred
in the first experiment, when the plants were subjected to somewhat
severe mutual competition, an equal number on each side either died or
did not produce flower-stems. The tallest flower-stems on the surviving
plants were measured, as shown in Table 3/24.
TABLE 3/24. Digitalis purpurea.
The tallest Flower-stem on each Plant measured in inches: 0 signifies
that the Plant died, or did not produce a Flower-stem.
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Plants raised from a Cross between different Flowers on the
same Plant.
Column 3: Plants raised from Flowers fertilised with their own Pollen.
Pot 1 : 49 4/8 : 45 5/8.
Pot 1 : 46 7/8 : 52.
Pot 1 : 43 6/8 : 0.
Pot 2 : 38 4/8 : 54 4/8.
Pot 2 : 47 4/8 : 47 4/8.
Pot 2 : 0 : 32 5/8.
Pot 3 : 54 7/8 : 46 5/8.
Pot 4 : 32 1/8 : 41 3/8.
Pot 4 : 0 : 29 7/8.
Pot 4 : 43 7/8 : 37 1/8.
Pot 5 : 46 6/8 : 42 1/8.
Pot 5 : 40 4/8 : 42 1/8.
Pot 5 : 43 : 0.
Pot 6 : 48 2/8 : 47 7/8.
Pot 6 : 46 2/8 : 48 3/8.
Pot 7 : 48 5/8 : 25.
Pot 7 : 42 : 40 5/8.
Pot 8 : 46 7/8 : 39 1/8.
Pot 9 : 49 : 30 3/8.
Pot 9 : 50 3/8 : 15.
Pot 9 : 46 3/8 : 36 7/8.
Pot 9 : 47 6/8 : 44 1/8.
Pot 9 : 0 : 31 6/8.
Crowded Plants.
Pot 10 : 46 4/8 : 47 7/8.
Pot 10 : 35 2/8 : 0.
Pot 10 : 24 5/8 : 34 7/8.
Pot 10 : 41 4/8 : 40 7/8.
Pot 10 : 17 3/8 : 41 1/8.
Crowded Plants.
Total : 1078.00 : 995.38.
The average height of the flower-stems on the twenty-five crossed plants
in all the pots taken together is 43.12 inches, and that of the
twenty-five self-fertilised plants 39.82, or as 100 to 92. In order to
test this result, the plants planted in pairs in Pots 1 and 8 were
considered by themselves, and the average height of the sixteen crossed
plants is here 44.9, and that of the sixteen self-fertilised plants
42.03, or as 100 to 94. Again, the plants raised from the thickly sown
seed in Pots 9 and 10, which were subjected to very severe mutual
competition, were taken by themselves, and the average height of the
nine crossed plants is 39.86, and that of the nine self-fertilised
plants 35.88, or as 100 to 90. The plants in these two latter pots (9
and 10), after being measured, were cut down close to the ground and
weighed: the nine crossed plants weighed 57.66 ounces, and the nine
self-fertilised plants 45.25 ounces, or as 100 to 78. On the whole we
may conclude, especially from the evidence of weight, that seedlings
from a cross between flowers on the same plant have a decided, though
not great, advantage over those from flowers fertilised with their own
pollen, more especially in the case of the plants subjected to severe
mutual competition. But the advantage is much less than that exhibited
by the crossed offspring of distinct plants, for these exceeded the
self-fertilised plants in height as 100 to 70, and in the number of
flower-stems as 100 to 48. Digitalis thus differs from Ipomoea, and
almost certainly from Mimulus, as with these two species a cross between
flowers on the same plant did no good.
CALCEOLARIA.
A BUSHY GREENHOUSE VARIETY, WITH YELLOW FLOWERS BLOTCHED WITH PURPLE.
The flowers in this genus are constructed so as to favour or almost
ensure cross-fertilisation (3/6. Hildebrand as quoted by H. Muller 'Die
Befruchtung der Blumen' 1873 page 277.); and Mr. Anderson remarks that
extreme care is necessary to exclude insects in order to preserve any
kind true. (3/7. 'Gardeners' Chronicle' 1853 page 534.) He adds the
interesting statement, that when the corolla is cut quite away, insects,
as far as he has seen, never discover or visit the flowers. This plant
is, however, self-fertile if insects are excluded. So few experiments
were made by me, that they are hardly worth giving. Crossed and
self-fertilised seeds were sown on opposite sides of a pot, and after a
time the crossed seedlings slightly exceeded the self-fertilised in
height. When a little further grown, the longest leaves on the former
were very nearly 3 inches in length, whilst those on the self-fertilised
plants were only 2 inches. Owing to an accident, and to the pot being
too small, only one plant on each side grew up and flowered; the crossed
plant was 19 1/2 inches in height, and the self-fertilised one 15
inches; or as 100 to 77.
Linaria vulgaris.
It has been mentioned in the introductory chapter that two large beds of
this plant were raised by me many years ago from crossed and
self-fertilised seeds, and that there was a conspicuous difference in
height and general appearance between the two lots. The trial was
afterwards repeated with more care; but as this was one of the first
plants experimented on, my usual method was not followed. Seeds were
taken from wild plants growing in this neighbourhood and sown in poor
soil in my garden. Five plants were covered with a net, the others being
left exposed to the bees, which incessantly visit the flowers of this
species, and which, according to H. Muller, are the exclusive
fertilisers. This excellent observer remarks that, as the stigma lies
between the anthers and is mature at the same time with them,
self-fertilisation is possible. (3/8. 'Die Befruchtung' etc. page 279.)
But so few seeds are produced by protected plants, that the pollen and
stigma of the same flower seem to have little power of mutual
interaction. The exposed plants bore numerous capsules forming solid
spikes. Five of these capsules were examined and appeared to contain an
equal number of seeds; and these being counted in one capsule, were
found to be 166. The five protected plants produced altogether only
twenty-five capsules, of which five were much finer than all the others,
and these contained an average of 23.6 seeds, with a maximum in one
capsule of fifty-five. So that the number of seeds in the capsules on
the exposed plants to the average number in the finest capsules on the
protected plants was as 100 to 14.
Some of the spontaneously self-fertilised seeds from under the net, and
some seeds from the uncovered plants naturally fertilised and almost
certainly intercrossed by the bees, were sown separately in two large
pots of the same size; so that the two lots of seedlings were not
subjected to any mutual competition. Three of the crossed plants when in
full flower were measured, but no care was taken to select the tallest
plants; their heights were 7 4/8, 7 2/8, and 6 4/8 inches; averaging
7.08 in height. The three tallest of all the self-fertilised plants were
then carefully selected, and their heights were 6 3/8, 5 5/8, and 5 2/8,
averaging 5.75 in height. So that the naturally crossed plants were to
the spontaneously self-fertilised plants in height, at least as much as
100 to 81.
Verbascum thapsus.
The flowers of this plant are frequented by various insects, chiefly by
bees, for the sake of the pollen. Hermann Muller, however, has shown
('Die Befruchtung' etc. page 277) that V. nigrum secretes minute drops
of nectar. The arrangement of the reproductive organs, though not at all
complex, favours cross-fertilisation; and even distinct species are
often crossed, for a greater number of naturally produced hybrids have
been observed in this genus than in almost any other. (3/9. I have given
a striking case of a large number of such hybrids between Verbascum
thapsus and lychnitis found growing wild: 'Journal of Linnean Society
Botany' volume 10 page 451.) Nevertheless the present species is
perfectly self-fertile, if insects are excluded; for a plant protected
by a net was as thickly loaded with fine capsules as the surrounding
uncovered plants. Verbascum lychnitis is rather less self-fertile, for
some protected plants did not yield quite so many capsules as the
adjoining uncovered plants.
Plants of Verbascum thapsus had been raised for a distinct purpose from
self-fertilised seeds; and some flowers on these plants were again
self-fertilised, yielding seed of the second self-fertilised generation;
and other flowers were crossed with pollen from a distinct plant. The
seeds thus produced were sown on the opposite sides of four large pots.
They germinated, however, so irregularly (the crossed seedlings
generally coming up first) that I was able to save only six pairs of
equal age. These when in full flower were measured, as in Table 3/25.
TABLE 3/25. Verbascum thapsus.
Heights of Plants measured in inches.
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Crossed Plants.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants of the Second Generation.
Pot 1 : 76 : 53 4/8.
Pot 2 : 54 : 66.
Pot 3 : 62 : 75.
Pot 3 : 60 5/8 : 30 4/8.
Pot 4 : 73 : 62.
Pot 4 : 66 4/8 : 52.
Total : 392.13 : 339.00.
We here see that two of the self-fertilised plants exceed in height
their crossed opponents. Nevertheless the average height of the six
crossed plants is 65.34 inches, and that of the six self-fertilised
plants 56.5 inches; or as 100 to 86.
Vandellia nummularifolia.
Seeds were sent to me by Mr. J. Scott from Calcutta of this small Indian
weed, which bears perfect and cleistogene flowers. (3/10. The convenient
term of CLEISTOGENE was proposed by Kuhn in an article on the present
genus in 'Bot. Zeitung' 1867 page 65.) The latter are extremely small,
imperfectly developed, and never expand, yet yield plenty of seeds. The
perfect and open flowers are also small, of a white colour with purple
marks; they generally produce seed, although the contrary has been
asserted; and they do so even if protected from insects. They have a
rather complicated structure, and appear to be adapted for
cross-fertilisation, but were not carefully examined by me. They are not
easy to fertilise artificially, and it is possible that some of the
flowers which I thought that I had succeeded in crossing were afterwards
spontaneously self-fertilised under the net. Sixteen capsules from the
crossed perfect flowers contained on an average ninety-three seeds (with
a maximum in one capsule of 137), and thirteen capsules from the
self-fertilised perfect flowers contained sixty-two seeds (with a
maximum in one capsule of 135); or as 100 to 67. But I suspect that this
considerable excess was accidental, as on one occasion nine crossed
capsules were compared with seven self-fertilised capsules (both
included in the above number), and they contained almost exactly the
same average number of seed. I may add that fifteen capsules from
self-fertilised cleistogene flowers contained on an average sixty-four
seeds, with a maximum in one of eighty-seven.
Crossed and self-fertilised seeds from the perfect flowers, and other
seeds from the self-fertilised cleistogene flowers, were sown in five
pots, each divided superficially into three compartments. The seedlings
were thinned at an early age, so that twenty plants were left in each of
the three divisions. The crossed plants when in full flower averaged 4.3
inches, and the self-fertilised plants from the perfect flowers 4.27
inches in height; or as 100 to 99. The self-fertilised plants from the
cleistogene flowers averaged 4.06 inches in height; so that the crossed
were in height to these latter plants as 100 to 94.
I determined to compare again the growth of plants raised from crossed
and self-fertilised perfect flowers, and obtained two fresh lots of
seeds. These were sown on opposite s
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