DWARF AND STANDARD PEPPER PLANTS 



At the left is a dwarf plant of full size, bearing ripe fruits; beside it is a normal plant of the 

 same cross. The two were photographed as they stood in the field. These dwarfs 

 are degenerates which appear in crosses made in commercial strains of plants ; sometimes 

 they are of value to the gardener, but more frequently not. (Fig. 12.) 



of its extreme size, the crinkly type of 

 leaf and its few small and nearly 

 seedless fruits. This plant has become 

 the parent of a race of tomatoes that 

 under the name of Oligosperm has bred 

 true within itself but does not unite with 

 other kinds. The attempts to combine 

 this mutant with various commercial 

 varieties have failed and, so far as breed- 

 ing goes, it seems to be outside the scope 

 of the tomato expert. 



In the above instance it appears that 

 we have a degenerate that is primarily 

 characterized by its great size. The 

 interest that centers in the possible be- 

 havior of its yet unknown offspring 

 from union with its allies can be imag- 



ined, for it does not conform to the type 

 of abnormality that has been here con- 

 sidered in the muskmelon and the 

 pepper. In the present instance the 

 unusual nature of the outcrop is to be 

 seen in the peculiar cotyledons and 

 many minute details of the growth of the 

 giant, and it is placed here among the 

 degenerates because of the extreme 

 weakness of its reproductive organs (that 

 may have a causal relation to its vege- 

 tative vigor) and its lack of sexual 

 affinity with plants that are its closest 

 kin. 



Within recent years and in connection 

 with other tomato crosses similar ab- 

 normal plants have appealed, but the 



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