﻿New 
  Species 
  of 
  Oenothera 
  531 
  

  

  may 
  be 
  discerned 
  among 
  the 
  others, 
  some 
  weeks 
  

   before 
  the 
  flowers 
  begin 
  to 
  show 
  themselves. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  character 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  plants 
  may 
  

   be 
  most 
  easily 
  recognized 
  from 
  a 
  distance 
  in 
  the 
  

   field 
  is 
  the 
  failure 
  of 
  the 
  fruits. 
  They 
  were 
  

   found 
  there 
  nearly 
  every 
  year 
  in 
  varying, 
  but 
  

   always 
  small 
  numbers. 
  

  

  Leaving 
  the 
  short-styled 
  primrose, 
  we 
  come 
  

   now 
  to 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  our 
  group 
  of 
  retrograde 
  va- 
  

   rieties. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  0. 
  nanella, 
  or 
  the 
  dwarf, 
  and 
  

   is 
  a 
  most 
  attractive 
  little 
  plant. 
  It 
  is 
  very 
  short 
  

   of 
  stature, 
  reaching 
  often 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  only 
  20- 
  

   30 
  cm., 
  or 
  less 
  than 
  one-fourth 
  of 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  par- 
  

   ent. 
  It 
  commences 
  flowering 
  at 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  10- 
  

   15 
  cm., 
  while 
  the 
  parent-form 
  often 
  measures 
  

   nearly 
  a 
  meter 
  at 
  this 
  stage 
  of 
  its 
  development. 
  

   Being 
  so 
  very 
  dwarfed 
  the 
  large 
  flowers 
  are 
  all 
  

   the 
  more 
  striking. 
  They 
  are 
  hardly 
  inferior 
  

   to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  lamarcldana, 
  and 
  agree 
  with 
  

   them 
  in 
  structure. 
  When 
  they 
  fade 
  away 
  

   the 
  spike 
  is 
  rapidly 
  lengthened, 
  and 
  often 
  be- 
  

   comes 
  much 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  lower 
  or 
  vegetative 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  stem. 
  

  

  The 
  dwarfs 
  are 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  mu- 
  

   tations 
  in 
  my 
  garden, 
  and 
  were 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  

   native 
  locality 
  and 
  also 
  grown 
  from 
  seeds 
  saved 
  

   there. 
  Once 
  produced 
  they 
  are 
  absolutely 
  con- 
  

   stant. 
  I 
  have 
  tried 
  many 
  thousands 
  of 
  seeds 
  

   from 
  various 
  dwarf 
  mutants, 
  and 
  never 
  ob- 
  

  

  