| OCR Text |
Show ADONIS J.ESTIV ALIS. CHAP. .I V. 128 d . 11 three pots before · crossed plants flo~ere ~~0~ the self-fertilisocl derived from the d seedlings donved fi cr the two tallest the naturally crobsstel, lots were in full ow ed and the TC. ult plant s. When .d oo 1o f each po t were measur ' plants on _each SI receding table. !ants derived from the is shown m the :eight of the six tallest p of tho six tallest plants rl'he average. 12 ··56 inches; and that. 10.31 inches; or as d plants 1s .1. d plants IS . h · ht crosse the self-fertl1se . 11 difference Jn eJg derived from We here see a considcra: ~equalling that in th? 1b0 0 to 82. t sets though very far frof crossed ancl solf- t een the wo , h ffsprin o- -rom . l t tl e w. . 1 between t e o o t be attribute o le pretviOus tna s This difference mus 1 constitution from .1. ed flowers. . h ·ted a wea c • . h fer I IS I nts having m en . . d flowers ; notwit - -latter set o! pt~e offspring of self-ferlii~sed been freely inter-then paren s, ts themselves a standing that the paretn b the aid of insects. crosse d wl 'th other plan s y , .lE -ADONIS lESTIV ALIS. X. RANUNCULACE . h" lant are hardly worth Its of my experiments on~ IS ~ the time, "sccd1mgs, . ~her=:~ remark in my note? ma e :nhcalthy." Nor did they givmg, known cause, all mJSerably t . c the present case, from som;:: healthy; yet I feel bound o .;~:ch I have arrived. eve.r ?ec ed to the general results atd d fruit containjng as 1\ IS oppos d and all pro uce . '· · d with . . tiowers were crosse rs were fertJ lise FJfteen e 32. 5 seeds; nineu:cn flowe 1 d fruit containing on ~n averagll and they likewL c all ywl cOOt lOG. Seedlings then own po en, f 34. 5 seeds . or as 1 o . If ther larger average o ' of tho ])Ots all the se - a ra . d from these seeds. In one . the two others, the were rmse d' d whilst quite young; 111 . fertilised plants 1e f Uows. measurements were as o . No. of Pot. I. II. rr ABLE XLIII. Adonis restivalis. ~~sed l'lan~ _ Inches. 14 1 3~ Total in inches. I 57•00 Jnches. lB 1:3 g 15 ~ 15 0HAP. IV. DELPHINIUM OONSOLIDA. 129 The average height of the four crossed plants is 14·25, and that of the four self-fertilised plants 14 · ill ; or as 100 to 100 · 4 ; so that they were in fact of equal height. According to ProfessOl' ff. Hoffmann,• this plant is protcrandrou ; nevertheless it yields plenty of seeds when protected from insects. DELPHINIUM CONSOLIDA·. It has been said in the case of this plant, as of so many others, that the flowers arc fertilised in the bud, and that distinct plants or varieties can never naturally intcrcros .t But this is an error, as we may infer, firstly from the flowers being proterandrous,-the mature stamens bending up, one after the other, into tho passage which leads to the nectary, and afl erwards the mature pistils bending in the same ffirection; secondly, fmm the number of humble-bees which visit the flowers :t:; and thirdly, from the greatm· fertility of the flowers when crossed with pollen from a distinct plant than when spontaneously solf-fertilis• d. In the year 1863 I enclosed a large branch in a net> and crossed five dowers with pollen from a distinct plant; these yielded capsules containing on an average 35 · 2 very fine seeds, with a maximum of forty-two in one capsule. 'l.'hirty-two other flowers on the same branch produced twenty-eight spontaneously sclf-fm-tiliscd capsules, containing on an a vcrage 17 · 2 seeds, with a maximu.n:i in one of thirty-six seeds. But six of these capsules were very poor, yielding. only from one to five seeds; if these are excluded, the remaining twenty-two capsules give an avm·age of .20·9 seeds, though many of these seeds were small. The fairest ratio, therefore, for the number of seeds produced by a cross and by spontaneous self-fertilisation is as 100 to 59. These seeds were not sown, as I had too many other experiments in progrcs . In the summer of 1867, which was a very unfavourable one, I again crossed several flowers under a net with pollen from a distinct plant, and fertili ed other flowers on the same plant with their own pollen. The former yielded a much larger p1·oportion of capsules than the latter; and many of the seeds in the elffertilised capsules, though numerous, we1·e so poor that an equal number of seeds from the crossed and •elf-fertilised capsules p. *II .' Zur Speciosfrage, ' 1875, t Decaisne, ' Comptes-Rendus,' July, 1863, p. 5. t Their structure is described by H. Muller, 'Befruchtung,' &c. , p. 122. • f |
