EXPEitlMEXT STATIOX KEPORT. 491 



foliage. It is possible that it may bear the name abroad that it is 

 known by in the Gardens, namely, the "Longfellow,"' but the seed 

 will go out under the cross record 18 x 2, or Station Eggplant Xo. 1. 



A Hybrid Eggplant. 



During 1904 a fruit was obtained- upon a "Scarlet Chinese" egg- 

 plant (Solatium integrifoUum Poir.) after treatment with polk-n 

 from one of the common garden varieties of eggplant, the "Fordho<3k 



14 

 Improved" (Solannm Melongena L.) ( "os")- As a result, one seed 



grew and produced a plant that has shown itself to be an unmistakal)le 

 hybrid between these s})ecies. The Solanum integrifoUum is a tall- 

 growing bush, with comparatively smooth, deeply-lobed leaves, armod 

 upon both sides of the vines with stout, sharp spines and small flowers, 

 in clusters, that produce numerous small, flat fruits, with prominent 

 lobes and of a bright, scarlet color. The fruits are so durable that 

 they may be strung, like peppers, and kept for many months. It is 

 on account of these bright, shiny fruits that this species, probably 

 from Africa, has long been grown for ornament. The contrast with 

 the ordinary edible eggplant species is quite marked. 



The hybrid plant in question was unusually thrifty from the start. 

 and during the last half of the season exhibited a broad top, several 

 feet across, and continually loaded with a hundred or more of blooms, 

 midway in size betv\-een the two species involved in the union. The 

 plant in other ways differs from the parents, as, for example, the 

 handsome, purplish leaves are near to the "Chinese" in outline, com- 

 bined with the soft texture of the "Fordhook," and abounding in 

 spines, those upon the stems resembling the prickles of rose canes. 



While the plant produced a great display of flowers, the setting of 

 fruit was the exception, and it was the 1st of October before a single 

 mature fruit was secured. This was witli three shallow grooves, 

 somewhat flat, a bright orange and about two and a half inches in its 

 greater diameter. This specimen was cut in halves and photographed, 

 both in surface and interior view, along with corresponding views of 

 fruits of both parents, as shown in Plate X.^ It is to be observed 

 that the fruit is larger than the "Chinese," shown upon the right, 

 and there is only a slight suggestion of its deep grooves. The calyx 



' As all the "Fordhook" seed failed this season, the male is represented in the 

 picture by a fruit of "New York Improved," which has all the essential char- 

 acters, for this purpose, of the "Fordhook." 



