THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 5 



white. There was this difference, however, the bulbs from seed 

 of white flowered plants gave a great many more pale forms 

 than those from pink flowered plants, while the latter gave 

 nearly all pink flowered bulbs and among them some with 

 flowers of deeper pink than any we have ever seen afield. It 

 is apparent, then that some progress has been made in separat- 

 ing the two colors. Continuing the work, the seeds from the 

 deep pink flowers have been planted and also another lot of 

 seeds from the palest forms, and we are inclined to predict 

 that the new lot of bulbs will show greater advances in the 

 direction we have marked out for them than the first lot did. 

 The first lot of bulbs will be destroyed with the exception of 

 the best specimens which will be retained for breeding pur- 

 poses. Had we been in a hurry to have the two colors true, we 

 should have very carefully pollinated the plants, pollen from 

 white flowers on white flowers and similar treatment of the 

 pink flowers, and our failure to get flowers of a single color is 

 likely due to a mixing of the two strains in pollination, but the 

 work has been rather a matter of a pastime than of a desire to 

 achieve exact results. What we have accomplished, however, 

 foreshdows what may be done with the plants if one takes 

 them up in earnest. 



LEAF MARKINGS OF PLANTS. 



AMONG the most familiar objects of our fields and gardens 

 are such plants as the red and white clover with definite 

 light-colored markings on the leaflets. Another equally prom- 

 inent plant in gardens is the ribbon-grass (Phalaris arnndin- 

 acea picta), whose leaves show variegated longitudinal bands 

 of white and green color. 



Some time ago the writer began to collect data on the 

 native and introduced plants of Ohio which show any definite 

 type of markings. The problem is rather difficult since the 

 markings usually disappear when plants are dried. It becomes 



