NOTES ON EPILOBIUM HYBRIDS 161 



certain hybrid -willow-herbs by the ordinary experimental method 

 of emasculating the flower before the anthers dehisce, pollinating 

 from the other species, and covering with a bag until the fruit 

 begins to set and the corolla falls off. Two such hybrids have 

 this year been distributed through the British Botanical Exchange 

 Club, and it is hoped that more will be available in the coming 

 years. The following are notes upon the two hybrids distributed 

 so far. 



E. adnatum Griseb., forma stenophylln Hausskn., male x 

 E. hirsutum Linn., female. Both parents were identified with 

 certainty by Eev. E. S. Marshall : they were both grown in Cam- 

 bridge gardens, as were also the hybrids (open situation in light 

 soil). Seven hybrids were grown in 1909, and all were absolutely 

 uniform in appearance, k plant found once only by Haussknecht 

 at Greussen, in Thuringia (1857), was identified by him as 

 E. adnatum x hirsutum, and was carefully described {Monograph, 

 p. 103). From this description my artificial hybrid differs in 

 several points, while agreeing in the main. The discrepancies 

 do not appear to be fully explained by the use of the " forma 

 stenophylla," '^' and future experiment can alone determine the 

 reason for them. The following are the chief points in which my 

 hybrid differs from Haussknecht's description : — 



(1) The stem is quite terete towards the top. 



(2) The leaves, though they half clasp the stem below, do not 

 do so at the top. 



(3) The upper leaves are but little more hairy than the lower 

 (which are almost glabrous), and cannot be described as "allmah- 

 lich beiderseits angedrilckt grau behaart." 



(4) There are no long erect hairs, such as are present in 

 hirsutum; the hairs are longer than in adnatum, &nd are obliquely 

 directed upwards, i. e. their position is intermediate between the 

 closely appressed down of adnatum and the erect hairs of hir- 

 sutu)n. There are no swollen tips to the hairs, such as are found 

 in the shorter hairs of hirsutum. 



(5) The pedicel of the capsule is usually about 1-5 cm. long, 

 and the capsule itself never grows to more than 3-4 cm. (Hauss- 

 knecht's figures are: pedicel I'O cm., occasionally reaching 1-5 cm. ; 

 capsule 5-6 cm. long.) 



The hybrid lacks the long runners of hirsutum ; autumnal 

 rosettes are formed close to the plant, their leaves being long and 

 strap-shaped, much as in adnatum f. stenophijlla, but larger. 



The flowers are like those of adnatum in size, colour, and 

 general appearance ; the stigma is clavate, slightly notched, and 



* I am inclined to agree with Mr. Marshall that the forma steuophylla 

 deserves varietal rank ; several plants preserved their proper characters when 

 raised from seed and f,'rown in my garden at Tewkesbury side by side with 

 typical adnatum. Mr. Marshall noticed the narrowness of the leaves in this 

 hybrid as being " greater than one would prima facie expect from a cross with 

 the type " adnatum. 



