Stout: The Origin of Dwarf Plants 431 



difficulties that arise in the attempts to analyze the facts of 

 heredity and variation in terms of units and raise anew the ques- 

 tions as to the validity of the conceptions regarding mutation. 



It is the purpose of this paper to present the facts as thus 

 far determined regarding the origin and the behavior of a marked 

 variation in Hibiscus oculiroseus and to point out some considera- 

 tions suggested by such cases. 



The dwarf form of Hibiscus oculiroseus 



The two plants shown in Plate 26 are typical for the appear- 

 ance of dwarf and robust plants of H. oculiroseus at the end of 

 the first year of growth as handled in my cultures. Both plants 

 were from seed planted in January, 1914. The seedlings were 

 grown in pots in a greenhouse until May, when they were planted 

 in adjoining beds in the experimental garden. The photograph 

 was taken September 13, 1914. A glance at the plate will show 

 the marked differences that exist between the two types. The 

 dwarf plant is shorter, but is more branched with large well-de- 

 veloped lateral branches arising close to the base; the internodes 

 are shorter, making the leaves more crowded ; the leaves are smaller 

 and many of them are somewhat irregular or asymmetrical in 

 outline and many of them are crinkled. Few of the dwarf plants 

 have thus far come into flower, but those that have showed flowers 

 nearly if not fully as large as the robust types. 



From the data regarding the ancestry of the dwarf plants, it 

 appears that a plant of Hibiscus oculiroseus was obtained by the 

 New York Botanical Garden from the firm of Pitcher and Manda 

 in the year 1896. This firm obtained their original stock of this 

 plant from Mr. W. F. Bassett of Hammonton, New Jersey, who 

 introduced the plant (Britton, 1903) into the trade some years 

 before. Bassett obtained the first plant of this type about the 

 year 1880 from a colony of wild plants growing near Absecen, 

 New Jersey. The plant was propagated by seed, and introduced 

 into the trade. It was commonly called the "Crimson Eye." 



Britton (1903) points out that this type differs from H. Mos- 

 cheutos in several characters. H. Moscheutos in its most abundant 

 form, at least in the vicinity of New York City, has flowers of a 



