120 Ty-ansformation of ^gilops into Wheat. 



other forms obtained in my experiments of artificial fertilization — 

 that is to say, five hybrid forms — present, in spite of the differ- 

 ences which separate them, such analogy, that they constitute 

 a little group extremely natural, or if it be preferred, a section of 

 tlie genus, intermediate between yEtjilojis and Triticum, Now 

 by its aspect, the form of its spike, the keel of the valves of the 

 glume, and by its nerves, JEgilojis s2)elt(joform{s is referable 

 exactly to this section, and I know of no zErjilops recognised as 

 a legitimate species which can be arranged there in this way. 

 Does this leave any probability that this plant originated 

 differently from the other five ? 



What I have said of the successive modifications undergone 

 by JEf/iloj)s triticoides, in the hands of M. Fabre, through long 

 cultivation, I borrowed from his memoir. Tlie facts are, in 

 addition, supported by the authority of Professor Dunal, who 

 possesses numerous specimens derived fi'om the different years of 

 M. Fabre's cultivation. I will add that the specimens of the 

 later years, although ripe and tied in little bundles, do not break 

 below the spike ; I have been able to verify this fact myself. 

 Now it is quite different with the ^qilops speltceformis which I 

 cultivated last year, which I iiave in cultivation again this year, 

 and the seeds of which I owe to the kmdness of M. Dec aisne. 

 Here the spikes separate readily from the stalks when mature ; 

 therefore this is the form described by M, Jordan. From this it 

 follows that we must suppose that tlie plant of the earlier culti- 

 vation of M. Fabre has become modified, or that there exist two 

 forms of yEqilops speltceformis ; for this character, derived from 

 the fragility of the spikes, acknowledged as excellent for dis- 

 tinguishing Agropynirnjunceum from its congeners, and which M. 

 Jordan regards even as a generic character in yEc/ilops, should 

 have in his eyes sufficient value for the establishment of a new- 

 species. I will observe in addition, that the nerves of the valves 

 of the glume are diminished in number, and that several of them 

 have been singularly weakened in the plant cultivated for twelve 

 years by M. Fabre, while these nerves have remained numenms 

 and pretty conspicuous in the specimens with a brittle spike, 

 which are probably nearer to the wild state. Nevertheless these 

 are very real modifications, although M. Jordan does not admit 

 them as possible. 



I will further remark, in support of the modifications under- 

 gone by yEgilops triticoides through cultivation, that this plant is 

 not absolutely constant in the wild state, and tliis new fact goes 

 to confirm, what all experimenters have observed, that hybrids 

 are far from having the same fixity in their characters as legiti- 

 mate species. In several specimens of wild yEgilops triticoides 

 in my herbarium, I see, sometimes in the lower spikelet only, 



