Stout: The Origin of Dwarf Plants 433 



irregular in shape and also exhibited a shortening of internodes at 

 the tips of stems quite identical to that of the parent plant and 

 were in general intermediates between the robust type and the 

 extreme dwarf type. One plant was of the dwarf type quite 

 identical with the one above described. Ten of the plants, in- 

 cluding the dwarf and one of the intermediates, were grown in 

 1913, when all bloomed. The dwarf plant (Xo. i of Series I) 

 continued small and much branched with many crumpled leaves. 

 Two capsules of selfed seed were obtained from this plant and one 

 capsule was obtained from a sister plant (No. 5 of Series I) of the 

 robust type. 



As to flower coloration and pod character, nine of the ten plants 

 were typical H. oculiroseus. One plant had flowers with faint 

 pink coloration outside the eye in the blade of the corolla, although 

 at a short distance or upon casual survey the flowers appeared 

 to be typical H. oculiroseus. There was outside of this one plant 

 no indication but what the seed obtained was strictly selfed, and 

 even in this one case the flowers borne were not such as have been 

 obtained in the Fi hybrids between the parent plant and the only 

 other type of Hibiscus growing in the vicinity of the seed parent. 



The winter of 1913-14 was unusually severe on the Hibiscus 

 plants growing in the experimental plots, killing about 1,500 

 plants of various cultures, including the dwarf plant (No. i) and 

 the robust plant (No. 5) of Series I, from which selfed seed had 

 been obtained. 



In addition to the plants of Series I, there were also grown 

 during the summer of 1913 forty-five plants (Series VI) derived 

 from selfed seed obtained during the summer of 191 2 from the 

 same parent plant (0 No. i). All of these were dwarf plants. 

 Four produced flowers that were typical H. oculiroseus. No seed 

 ripened and all the plants died during the winter of 1913-14. 

 All the plants of this series were dwarfs, while of the fifteen plants 

 of another series (Series I) from a pod of the same parent only 

 one dwarf appeared as already noted. 



The dwarf character of these plants was most conspicuous in 

 comparison with the selfed progenies of four other plants of 

 Hibiscus oculiroseus (sister plants of No. i) grown during the 



