28 PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 



site as the S ." Although the plant flowered annually, it was 

 sterile, and bore no fruit, but was perennial and multiplied by 

 the roots. 



"Floruit quidem haec planta omni anno felicissime, in annum quo haec 

 edimus, 1755,'et vivis radicibus facillime immutata multiplicatur, nullos 

 vero fructus maturavit." (p. 35.) 



It thus appears that Linnaeus' hybrid Veronica, originating in 

 1750, was still alive in 1755. 



Another hybrid, between Verbena hastata 9 and Verbena spuria 

 ^ is stated to have originated naturally in the Botanical Garden 

 in 1748, perishing two years later. It is recorded as arising in the 

 same bed with the two species named above, 



"but not through dissemination, considering that no one had the seeds 

 here hitherto, nor through a planting of it, since it had not previously 

 been seen within the country." (p. 43.) 



The first description of the hybrid between Trifolium repens 

 9 and T. pratense $ , the now so well-known and widely-grown 

 "alsike clover" (T. hybridum) is given by Haartman (p. 44). 

 This hybrid is stated to have originated not only near Upsala, 

 but also near Aboa, "where I gathered it the past summer" 

 (1751). The description states: 



"The white flower likewise commonly displays a purplish color, in 

 which it approximates to the father by as much as it recedes from the 

 mother. Besides, it bears the fructification of Trifolium album $ with all 

 its properties." 



The account concludes : 



"Paucis locis obvia est haec planta, nee veteribus nota, quod videtur 

 esse signum illam baud ita pridem generam fuisse." (p. 44.) 



Perhaps the first exact description, aside from Kolreuter, of 

 intermediate characters in a hybrid, is also given by Haartman 

 (p. 48), in the description of a hybrid Thalictrum referred to as 

 a "new plant recently seen in the academic garden." The num- 

 ber of the stamens is given as 40, and of the pistils, 8 ; those of the 

 female parent being 60 and 16, and of the male parent, 16 and 7, 

 stamens and pistils, respectively ; the hybrid was therefore inter- 

 mediate. 



A hybrid, Helianthus multiflorus, between Helianthus annuus 

 9 and H. tuberosus 5, is described as having fibrous roots like 

 the 9 parent. 



