EXPERIMENT STATION REPORT. 533 



During the present season there have been quite a number 

 of nasturtiums bloom among our plants that show no spur; in 

 other words, the flower is almost entirely regular in all its parts. 

 This absence of the spur, together with a regularity of the calyx 

 and corolla gives a bloom that in some respects si^ggests the 

 Philadelphia lily, although the number of parts is not the same 

 as in the latter flower. 



Tbis failure of the spur to develop is a case of the malforma- 

 tion which Linnaeus named as Pcloria, a term from the Greek 

 meaning prodigy. Linnaeus' example was, howCver, a toad 

 flax, or "butter and eggs'' {Linaria vulgaris) with five spurs 

 instead of the one that is usually met with in this common weed. 

 This malformation of the toad flax was a regular flower, result- 

 ing from the uniform development oi the spur, and might well 

 be termed a case of peloria — the irregularity, namely, the spur — 

 normally in only one petal was present in all the petals. With 

 the nasturtiums the flower, on the other hand, is regular by the 

 failure of the calyx to' develop any spur. 



Masters, in his book upon "Vegetable Teratology," places 

 the toad flax form under "Irregular Pleloria" and the nastur- 

 tium under "Regular Peloria." 



The latter form seems due to arrested development, or a 

 reversion to the type that may have prevailed in the early his- 

 tory of the nasturtium flower before the spur had been formed 

 for certain special advantages which it may secure in the process 

 of pollination by means of insects. 



Whatever may be the hidden cause of this regular mon- 

 strosity in the nasturtium, the result is a handsome flower that 

 has some points of value to the gardener. For one 'diing, these 

 blossoms can be picked with no danger of the spur becoming 

 entangled in the leaves, and thus endangering a mutilation of 

 the flower. Wliile less grotesque or bazaar than the usual 

 form, they have an exceptional dignity and grace. .Attempts 

 through breeding and selection are being made to perpetuate 

 the regularity in question. 



Report Blanks. 



Through the courtesy of Professor L. C. Corl>ett, blanks pro- 

 vided by the United States Department of Agriculture have 

 been received and filled out in duplicate, one set to be sent to 

 Washington, while the other is placed on file in this oflice. 

 These record sheets are upon stiff paper, size, six and a half 



