Half Races and Half Curves. 33 
less numerous green bracts on the lower parts of the 
spikes. The well-known Plantago major rosea of our 
gardens, all of the bracts of which are green and fairly 
large, constitutes the complementary, and constant, ever- 
sporting variety. Besides Papavcr somniferum polyceph- 
alum (Vol. I, Figs. 27-28, pp. 138-139) which is to be 
regarded as an eversporting variety, there are polyceph- 
alous half races of P. commntatnm and several other spe- 
cies which in my cultures behave in quite a different man- 
ner from the former, in response to selection. Besides 
the favorite Varietates cristatae of our cultivated ferns 
we occasionally find, in nature, wild species with a split 
leaf. Cclosia cristata, the cockscomb, is an exceedingly 
interesting eversporting variety, 1 besides which fasciated 
half races in numerous other genera are known. 2 But 
I must refrain from the citation of further instances. 
Just as a species can as a rule be distinguished from 
its nearest allies by two or several characters, so a half 
race can manifest as semi-latent anomalies two or more 
characters which are latent in the species in question. 
Nor is this by any means rare. In the case of characters 
which deviate in the opposite direction from the type of 
the species, "double half-curves" may be formed which 
have two unequal flanks. The number of petals of 
Hypcricum perforatum varies in this way, in this neigh- 
borhood, round a mean of 5 ; on the one side going fre- 
quently to 4 and rarely to 3, and on the other side rarely 
to 6. The corolla of Campanula rotundifolia often varies 
from 5 to 6 and 7, and rarely from 5 to 4 and 3. 3 
1 See the second part of this volume. 
" Botanisch Jaarbock, Gent, 1894, p. 72. 
3 See also Ber. d. d. hot. Ges., Vol. XII, 1894, P- 2 2 , where further 
examples will be found. 
