382 
proportion to their occurrence in the 
population, indicated again that there 
was no adverse factor in the cultural 
methods, since the paler varieties are 
less hardy and succumb to hard condi- 
tions more quickly than the deeper 
tinted varieties in species having the 
normal types colored (as de Vries! and 
others have pointed out) or in which 
the ancestral form is a deeply colored 
species. A survey, however, of the 
whole population of these marigolds 
showed that there was a far greater 
proportion of the orange tint. Since 
the germination percentage was very 
high, almost every seed having been 
viable, and no plants were lost in set- 
ting out, the conclusion is drawn that 
the paler type had been overcome in 
breeding and was masked by the more 
dominant or atavistic orange factor. 
This variation in stature and small 
proportion of clear yellow tints had 
already been observed in the plants 
grown in 1917 to a marked degree. 
In the named types of these mari- 
golds the peduncle is somewhat ex- 
panded at the inflorescence to form an 
urn-shaped cup and the ray florets sur- 
rounding the edge of this cup develop 
first, a capitulum, of course being an 
indeterminate inflorescence. The inner 
florets grow up from the more central 
part of this involucral urn and in the 
perfect type of these varieties there is a 
great elongation of the ligules of the 
central florets, so that the whole head 
represents a highly piled mound of 
rays with graduated lengths of ligule 
increasing from the circumference to 
the center. In the plants grown during 
the last three years, the central florets 
either reverted completely to the origi- 
nal species farm of disk florets, with 
tubular corollas, or if the ligules were 
retained they did not elongate, so that 
the peduncular urn bore only one or 
two rows of rays about its circumfer- 
ence, and the center was a descending 
hollow of undeveloped or partial ligules. 
Budding and additional food did not 
help matters or produce the large head 
of full ligulate florets. It illustrated 
The Journal of Heredity 
the tendency in Jagetes to go back toa 
simple composite type with dimorphic 
corollas within two or three generations 
of deficient artificial selection. The 
special feature showing, perhaps, most 
deterioration was the failure of the 
central ligules to elongate, thus forming 
sort of funnel-shaped inflorescence or 
the complete reversal to the disk type. 
In passing, it may be remarked that 
the plants were most prolific in setting 
seed, which is only another evidence of 
deterioration in highly bred or hybrid 
stock. 
EARLY VARIATIONS IN THE STOCKS 
The stocks, Matthiola incana, were 
sown early and set out under the most 
favorable conditions in an open bed 
with considerable space about each 
plant. By mid-summer each had 
become a sturdy tufted specimen-plant 
with a strong woody base. Later, when 
the inflorescences began to form, these 
plants gave every promise of what 
should have been dense trusses of 
double blossoms in tints of pink, red, 
yellows, white, lavender and purple. 
An early indication of variation was 
noted, however, in these plants when 
the leaves of adjacent plants were com- 
pared. The foliage of the type is 
densely tomentose but in these individ- 
uals all stages were found—from heavy 
gray velvety tomentum to an almost 
completely glabrous condition. Con- 
siderable variation was also observed 
in the width of the leaves. When the 
rather loosely arranged spikes and the 
blossoms were fully developed, it was 
a surprise to find that the color range 
included only the white, lavender and 
purple. The more delicate rose, pink 
and yellow had all been submerged in 
the dominant purple. The petals were 
broad and most of the stamens per- 
fectly developed and the inflorescence 
bore flowers almost the entire length of 
its usual tetramerous form, but with 
very few petaloid stamens. In these 
Stocks, just asin the marigolds, the het- 
erozygous strains were very prolific and 
matured abundant seed. In Matthiola, 
1de Vries: Mutationstheorie—Oenothera Lam. var. albida. 
