134 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
There are two prominent factors in the leaf character: . 
first, where the base of the leaf is green and both sides — 
bear a few bluish purple spots, the under side also showing 
indication of the red color of the staminate parent; second, 
where the upper surface of the leaf is beautifully streaked 
with dark red, radiating from the central axis, some of 
these bars, which terminate at the edge of the leaf, being 
an inch wide. The under side is regularly blotched with 
red and bluish purple, upon a light green base. These 
prominent markings of the leaves are ¢ aracteristic of the 
staminate parent in the seedling stage and the pistillate 
parent in the adult stage and are sufficiently striking to war- 
rant the adoption of a varietal name. This variety will be — 
known as Nymphaea “Mrs. Edwards Whitaker” var. “mar- 
morata.”’ 
.A detailed description of these lilies, with colored plates, 
will occur in a subsequent number of the Annals. 
HYBRIDIZATION IN PLANTS 
During the past few years numerous experiments have — 
been carried on at the Garden in crossing antirrhinums, 
calceolarias, begonias, cinerarias, primroses, water-lilies and 
other flowering plants, as well as tomatoes, melons and a few 
other vegetables. While in some cases it will require a num- 
ber of years to attain the results desired, sufficient indica- 
tion of the effect of some of the crosses made has been ob- 
tained to warrant the statement that some new and valuable 
hybrids are to be added to the Garden collections as a result 
of this work, the new water-lilies, referred to elsewhere in 
this Bunietin, being an example. 
Although the knowledge of hybridization in plants has 
been greatly augmented within recent years, there still re- 
mains a great deal to discover. Just what will happen when 
two species or varieties of plants are crossed is a question to 
which there is an almost unlimited number of possible and 
conceivable answers, and the problem has been discussed and 
. . 
diligently experimented upon ever since the latter part of 
the seventeenth century. : 
Koelreuter, who made extensive experiments near the end 
of the eighteenth century and published his results chiefly 
at the Academy of Science in Petrograd, laid the founda- 
tion for an empirical knowledge of the subject. He, to- 
gether with Sprengel and others, studied the part insects 
play. in effecting cross-pollination, and Knight, a little earlier 
in England, devoted a large amount of time to the improve- 
ment of many fruits an vegetables by cross-pollination. 
