Inheritance of Fasciation in Zea. 



93 



to above Compound ears are not of uncommon occurrence in 

 Zea Mays. * They constitute a mere branching of the inflor- 

 escence to which occasional reference can be found as to Gram- 

 ineae in general and Zea Mays in particular, f and are comparable 

 to those found in Triticnm tiirqidum eomposiHun, commonly 

 known as Eg>'ptian or Smyrna wheat. But in the latter the 

 branched character never is lost entirely, though it may be 

 greatly reduced under unfavorable conditions. 



It is well known that fasciations have a tendency to split, 

 especially when the crest assumes great proportions, /. e., when 



Fig. I. Fasciated Ears of Zea Mays everla XJ. 



the cross section becomes a mere fraction of the width. 

 In a paper shortlv to be published, the senior author hopes to 

 bring out the purely mechanical basis for such splitting. For 

 the present purpose it is sufficient to point out that if a splitting 

 mav occur during the later stages of development it is not at all 

 improbable that instances may occur in which the same necess- 

 arv conditions obtain during a younger stage. In Delphinium 

 hyhridum fasciatum splitting of the inflorescence occurs not un- 



*Blaringhern, L. Heridite d'anonialies flolales presentees par le Zea Mays tunicata. Compt 

 Rend. hebd. Soc. Biol., 57:^578, 1904. 



fGallardo, A. Xotas fitoteratologicas. Ccm. mvs. iia<.. Bueitos Aires, 1: 116, 1899. 

 de Vries, H. Plant-Breeding, fig. 33. 



