220 The Journal of Heredity 
progenies were grown the following 
season. These three progenies segre- 
gated in the expected manner, having 
approximately three normal plants to 
one brachytic but two of the progenies 
in addition produced plants with ad- 
herent organs. These two progenies 
were descended from the same first 
generation hybrid between brachytic 
and Boone. The adherent variation 
was not noticed until the plants had 
practically completed their growth at 
which time it was a striking abnormal- 
ity. It was immediately apparent 
that there were no plants in which the 
brachytic character of the culm was 
combined with the adherent organs, 
all the adherent plants being found in 
the group of normal stature. The 
classification of the plants is given in 
Table I. 
The percentage of adherent plants 
for the combined progenies, including 
normal and brachytic plants, is below 
that expected for a simple Mendelian 
character. This deficiency is probably 
due to the death rate in the seedling 
stages of the most extreme adherent 
plants. Since the variation was not 
found until the plants had reached ma- 
turity the counts were based on the 
survivors of the season. Subsequent 
generations have shown that the char- 
acter appears in the seedling stage and 
that many of the badly affected plants 
die after the production of 3 or 4 leaves. 
The absence of brachytic adherent 
plants indicated a high linkage be- 
tween normal stature and adherent 
but this hypothesis has not been sus- 
tained by the progenies. 
Extreme cases of adherence are im- 
possible to propagate and the progenies, 
especially those grown from self-pol- 
linated seed, were from plants that 
expressed the character in an interme- 
diate form. Difficulties also are en- 
countered in satisfactorily bagging the 
AN ADHERENT PLANT PARTLY. 
DISSECTED 
Showing the base of the compact tassel and the 
contorted stalk. The ear of this plant was not 
confined in the coalesced sheaths but the husks 
were firmly united and the prophyllum, fas- 
tened to the outer husks, has pulled apart as 
the ear lengthened. Photograph natural size. 
(Fig. 18.) 
