﻿70 
  Elementary 
  Species 
  

  

  erect 
  to 
  ascending, 
  and 
  the 
  name 
  patula 
  indi- 
  

   cates 
  stems 
  which 
  are 
  densely 
  branching 
  from 
  

   the 
  base 
  with 
  widely 
  spreading 
  branches 
  

   throughout. 
  Mr. 
  Em. 
  von 
  Proskowetz 
  of 
  Kwas- 
  

   sitz, 
  Austria, 
  kindly 
  sent 
  me 
  seeds 
  of 
  this 
  Beta 
  

   patula, 
  the 
  variability 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  so 
  great 
  in 
  

   my 
  cultures 
  as 
  to 
  range 
  from 
  nearly 
  typical 
  

   sugar-beets 
  to 
  the 
  thin 
  woody 
  type 
  of 
  Buk- 
  

   harest. 
  

  

  Broad 
  and 
  narrow 
  leaves 
  are 
  considered 
  to 
  be 
  

   differentiating 
  marks 
  between 
  Beta 
  vulgaris 
  

   and 
  Beta 
  patula, 
  but 
  even 
  here 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  of 
  

   forms 
  seem 
  to 
  occur. 
  

  

  Eimpau, 
  Proskowetz, 
  Schindler 
  and 
  others 
  

   have 
  made 
  cultures 
  of 
  beets 
  from 
  wild 
  localities 
  

   in 
  order 
  to 
  discover 
  a 
  hypothetical 
  common 
  an- 
  

   cestor 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  present 
  cultivated 
  types. 
  

   These 
  researches 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  B. 
  patula 
  as 
  the 
  

   probable 
  ancestor, 
  but 
  of 
  course 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  

   made 
  to 
  decide 
  the 
  question 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  the 
  

   origination 
  of 
  the 
  several 
  now 
  existing 
  types 
  

   had 
  taken 
  place 
  before 
  or 
  during 
  culture. 
  

   From 
  a 
  general 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  the 
  variability 
  of 
  

   the 
  wild 
  species 
  is 
  parallel 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   cultivated 
  forms 
  to 
  such 
  a 
  degree 
  as 
  to 
  suggest 
  

   the 
  multiple 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  former. 
  But 
  a 
  close 
  

   investigation 
  of 
  this 
  highly 
  important 
  prob- 
  

   lem 
  has 
  still 
  to 
  be 
  made. 
  

  

  The 
  varieties 
  of 
  the 
  cultivated 
  beets 
  are 
  com- 
  

  

  