VoL. 30 No. 2 
BULLETIN 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 
FEBRUARY, 1903 
On atavistic Variation in Oenothera cruciata 
By Huco De VRIgEs 
After Oenothera Lamarckiana had shown itself to be a very 
proper material for the study of the mutations by which new 
Species suddenly arise from old ones, I was naturally led to in- 
vestigate whether in other plants similar mutations might not be 
met with. For it is clear that the phenomena shown by Lamarck’s 
evening primrose are of prevailing interest only if they may be 
taken as an instance of a general rule. The other species of the 
Same genus were of course the first to receive attention. Most of 
these showed no signs of being fit for a study along the same lines, 
while on the other hand one, Oenothera cruciata, was found to be 
inconstant in the very character to which it owes its name. At 
least the plant which is cultivated under this name in European 
botanical gardens is variable in this regard. 
In proposing to bring the results of my experimental cultures 
of this plant before the readers of this journal, my aim is principally 
to direct their attention to any deviations which the species of the 
above-named genus might show in their native localities. For it 
is of undoubted interest to the study of mutability to know whether 
the variability which Ocnothera cruciata displays with us is also 
met with in America, in those parts where the plant grows wild. 
The allied forms such as O. diennis and O. muricata, should be 
tested in the same direction. Any deviations from the original 
types should be carefully observed and if possible perpetuated 
by seeds. Wherever such deviations are found the question would 
have to be answered whether the general type of the locality pos- 
sesses the power of again producing this deviation, and perhaps 
others too, in succeeding years. 
[The preceding number of the BULLETIN, Vol. 30, No. 1, for January, 1903 (30: 
1-74, pl. 1-6), was issued 4 F 1903. ] 15 
