178 Rhodora [OCTOBER 
pistillate descendents of the original 2d form mother plant only this 
one transgressed the limits of what may fairly be interpreted as the 
limits of fluctuating variability of the 2d form hermaphrodite. It 
must either be interpreted as the result of chance pollination by a 1st 
form hermaphrodite belonging to a structurally gynodioecious strain 
through which it inherited the purely pistillate character, or else as a 
mutation. 
Since 1910, the writer has been on the lookout for 2d form hermaph- 
rodites in nature. Although many of them have been found in the 
region about Washington, they constitute but a negligible proportion 
of the total Plantago population. This seems not to be the case in 
some parts of France, where the yellow 2d form hermaphrodite is very 
common and has recently been described as Plantago lanceolata var. 
androxantha, a new variety, by Biau! and Lemasson. Of course 
these authors would not have accorded taxonomic standing to a sex 
form if they had recognized its true nature. 
Typical plants from the cultures described in this paper have been 
turned over for cytological study to Dr. A. B. Stout of the New York 
Botanical Garden. It is to be hoped that his investigations will 
show whether there can be discovered a cytological basis for the 
inheritance of these forms. 
LABORATORY OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS, 
BUREAU OF Puant Inpustry, Washington, D. C. 
1 Biau, A.: Nouveautés phytographiques. Bull. Soc. Bot. France, 4e ser. xii, pp. 
711-716, 1912. (Feb. 1913). 
"Plantago lanceolata L. var. androzantha Biau et Lemasson. 
A Pl. lanceolata differt antheris lutescentibus vel viridi-Iutescentibus, multo angustiori- 
bus; fllamentis bis aut ter brevioribus; calycis carina valde ciliata, etc. 
Ce Plantain est remarquable par ses anthéres jaunátres, lui donnant à la floraison 
un facies tout particulier, ce qui permet de le reconnaitre à distance et de le distinguer 
très aisément du type à anthéres blanches avec lequel il croit péle-péle. 
Trés commun dans les Vosges, aux environs du Bruyéres et dans toute la vallée de 
la Vologne, oü il nous a paru presque aussi répandu que le type. 
Doit exister ailleurs, mais il faut le rechercher au moment de sa floraison, en mai de 
préférence, car ensuite il est difficile à distinguer du Pl. lanceolata; nous l'interprétons 
d' ailleurs comme une simple variété d'accord avec l'abbé Coste qui nous a fait 
l'honneur d'examiner quelques échantillons de cette nouvelle forme.'"— p. 713. 
