1916] Goodspeed-Brcuidt : Notes on Trillium 31 



those found during the same season in their native habitat. The 

 evidence furnished by rootstock 11 and a number of others seemed 

 for a time to indicate that there was each year an increase in the 

 size and differentiation of the undeveloped flowers, and it was thought 

 that this increase in size and differentiation would finally result in 

 the production of a normally flowering shoot. As indicated, however, 

 rootstock 11 produced a highly rudimentary undeveloped flower in 

 1915 after producing undeveloped flowers of larger size for a number 

 of years. In general it seems plain that there is no gradual transition 

 from undeveloped to normal flowers, but that a rootstock may produce 

 a diminutive undeveloped flower in one season and a perfectly normal 

 flower in the following season, just as the same rootstock might 

 conceivably in a third season produce again a diminutive, undeveloped 

 flower. 



A further point must be noted in this connection. An offset 

 produced from a parent rootstock never forms anything but an 

 undeveloped flower in the first season in which it bears a shoot, and 

 it is doubtful whether it produces a normally flowering shoot for a 

 considerable number of years thereafter. A seedling rootstock has 

 apparently the same history in this regard as the young offset. We 

 are thus concerned with two rather different situations in connection 

 with the occurrence of undeveloped flowers in Trillium species: 

 first, the number of years of growth necessary in the case of offsets 

 and seedlings for the production of a normal flower, and second, 

 the number of years that must intervene, after a normally flowering 

 rootstock has reverted to the condition of producing undeveloped 

 flowers before a normal flower can again be matured. With reference 

 to the first point, we have seen small offset rootstocks which when 

 collected gave evidence of at least five years previous growth, pro- 

 duce only undeveloped flowers for six years in the garden cultures. 

 As might perhaps be expected, it has been determined that seedling 

 rootstocks in the field remain even longer in the undeveloped flower 

 condition than do offsets from old, vigorous rootstocks. Concerning 

 the second point above, we have, as can be seen in table 2, only 

 one instance in the garden cultures — i.e., rootstock 39 — in which a 

 rootstock produced normal flowers, reverted to production of unde- 

 veloped flowers, and again after three years produced a normally 

 flowering shoot. In the great majority of cases normally flowering 

 rootstocks introduced into the garden cultures five or six years ago 

 have thereafter borne only shoots with undeveloped flowers. 



