178 Geuetic Behaviour of the Hybrid Primula Kewensis 



All the plants were small flowered, pin, and all had a neat bushy habit 

 with erect flower stems crowded together, the pedicels often sloping 

 upwards instead of standing out at right angles to the main stem. 

 Eleven of the plants had funnel-shaped flowers, and the rest flat stellate 

 flowers. The size of these plants varied much, the internodes of one 

 of the smallest measuring about ^ inch, and of one of the tallest about 

 1 inch. It was remarkable that not one of these plants had leaves like 

 the parent : they varied from ovate to broadly ovate. 



Reciprocal crosses between |f and -^ were made, and gave a 

 total of 



32 yellow thrums : 1.5 yellow pins. 



2 isabellina thrums : 7 isabellina pins. 



The results of these crosses as regards other characters are difficult to 

 analyze ; one plant only was obtained with narrow ovate leaves as in 

 \^. Two plants with weak stems- and straggling habit appeared ; as 

 i| threw only erect bushy plants we must suppose that f^ was hetero- 

 zygous as regards habit. 



Two crosses were made between ^ and Keivensis, buth of which 

 failed. 



Recapitulation of the foregoing section. 



The two plants J-f and \\, both of which descend from the cross 

 Kewensis x florihunda, exhibit in their offspring and descendants a wide 

 range of variation. These forms possess characters derived from the 

 original parent forms verticillata and florihunda, but they bear a 

 stronger resemblance to florihunda than to verticillata or Kewensis. 

 Thus in size, absence of meal, presence of hairs, and heterostyly, are 

 seen evidences of florihunda influence which are common to all the 

 plants, whereas in habit of growth, leaf shape, flower shape, and 

 colour, the influence of either species may be seen. The recombina- 

 tion of parental factors occurs also as the i-esult of crossing Kewensis 

 with If, when the florihunda type has reappeared. It appears that in' 

 11 we have a plant which forms a link heiw^ ee^a. florihunda and Kewensis, 

 by which characters from both forms may be recombined. The barrier 

 that prevents the recombination of certain verticillata characters, such 

 as size and habit, with the full degree of hairiness of florihunda, may 

 perhaps break down in the oflspring of |# x Ketvensis. 



