26 



DIMORPHIC LEAVES IN RELATION TO HEREDITY. 



The presence of the red basal spot in the okra and other relatives 

 of cotton is of interest from the standpoint of heredity, in view of the 



fact that this character 

 shows a somewhat con- 

 trasted or ]\Iendeloid ex- 

 pression in hybrids of Egypt- 

 an with Hindi or Upland 

 arieties. The contrasting 

 variations of color are not 

 confined to the hybrids, but 

 may appear in the different 

 stages of the same plant.* 



Varieties of okra with the 

 intermediate or narrow- 

 lobed leaves seem to be 

 most common in the United 

 States, but in Egypt, where 

 this crop is much more im- 

 portant thanwdth us, broad- 

 leaved varieties are grown 

 almost exclusively. Okra, 

 as well as Ilihiscus cannahi- 

 nus, is commonly planted 

 with cotton in Egvpt; but 

 usually to take the place of 

 hills of cotton that have 

 ailed to grow, instead of 

 being confined to the bor- 

 ders of the fields. 



The only narrow-lobed 

 okra plants noticed in Egypt 

 were a few near Medinet, in 

 the Fayum Oasis. Very 

 little of this variety was said 

 to be planted. The fruits 

 are considered more deli- 

 cate, but are smaller than 

 those of the broad-leaved 

 ])lants. In the narrow-lobed 

 variety there was an abrupt 

 change from the broad-lobed 

 leaves of the lower part of the stem to the adult form of leaves, but 

 even the broad-lobed leaves were more deeply divided than those of 



~ > Cook, O. F. Mutative Reversions in Cotton. Circular 5.3, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of 

 Agriculture, Marrli, 1910, p. 10. 

 221 



Fig. 1.").— Leaf of fruiting hnmch of Ecyptiun cotton, wilh 

 abnoriiuilly reduced blade ;ind enlarged, bractlike stipule. 

 (Natural size.) 



