Production of Fruits and Seeds in Certain Plants. 109 



The plants showed two distinct kinds of umbel, those at 

 the top of the main stem and side branches which bore the 

 largest number of perfect fruits, and the lateral umbels at the 

 side and beneath the more prominent ones, which bore rela- 

 tively a smaller number of perfect cremocarps. This suggests, 

 that the abortive condition of many of the fruits was due to 

 the preponderating amount of food being supplied to the 

 favored umbels to the exclusion of the later formed and 

 disadvantageously situated ones. 



The relative ratios established in these tables between the 

 perfect and abortive seeds and fruits give some idea as to the 

 success of the act of pollination and fertilization. It is sur- 

 prising, when we set aside our a priori position and draw up 

 statistical tables, to find in a number of instances that the 

 abortive seeds and fruits exceed the perfect ones. 



