J. Vargas Evrk and (i. Smith 191 



are capable of self-fertilisation because we have found that all flowers 

 similarly treated and artificially pollinated by pollen from the flowers 

 of the same plant set seed. This inference is supported further by the 

 manner in which L. perenne, both short and long styled, set seed when 

 " bagged " for the purpose of providing a supply of pollen for the trials 

 we have made. In addition wc have found that L. perenne $ carrying 

 blue riowers with short styles when pollinated by L. perenne </ carrying 

 while Howens with short styles produced seed normally and presented 

 no difference from the case where a short styled blue flowering 

 L. perenne $ was pollinated by a, long styled L. perenne / having 

 white flowers. 



The first attempt to effect a crossing between a Linum which 

 contains glucoside and enzyme and one which does not — the main 

 object of this work — was made in 1913 with Linum monogymmi </ 

 (Forster), a native of New Zealand, which is not dimorphic and 

 Linum flavmn (Linn.) ?, a yellow flowered perennial plant which is 

 dimorphic. Although tried repeatedly this cross seemed impossible 

 to effect. The reciprocal cross, L. flavum ^ and L. monogynum % was 

 however found to be successful, the ovaries of L. 'monogynum developed 

 normally and each of the three capsules finally obtained contained 

 three or four .seeds ; but thi.s small number of seeds per capsule seems 

 to indicate that fertilisation is difficult, and although the ten seeds 

 obtained appeared to be quite normal not one of them germinated. 



Linum maritimum, a dimorphic, tall yellow flowered species, was 

 pollinated by L. perenne — both the blue and the white varieties — but 

 without success; nor was the reciprocal cross any more successful. 

 Concurrently with these attempts to hybridise the yellow flowered 

 species, others which were in flower were also tried. It has been 

 mentioned already that the white and blue varieties of L. perenne cross 

 very readily, and this gave rise in the F^ generation to plants bearing large 

 pale blue flowers veined by darker blue. This fact is interesting as it 

 may throw some light on the origin of some of the numerous varieties 

 of L. perenne which now exist. L. perenne — both the blue and the 

 white — was pollinated by L. grandiflorum, the common red species of 

 the garden, but although every care was taken to use fresh pollen and 

 to pollinate only receptive stigmata, no fertilisation was effected. 



L. monogynum was pollinated by L. grandiflorum and all the ovaries 

 commenced ti) swell, but before they were half developed a number of 

 them had fallen and only a few matured : these on being opened proved 

 to be seedless. To explain the cause of this growth it seems necessary 



