150 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and the plants resemble one or other of the parents. It is then 

 customary to speak of dominant and recessive characters. The 

 former is the character which determines the appearance of the 

 hybrid ; the latter lies suppressed and apparently lost. 



A further complication not infrequently arises when in certain 

 hybrids it cannot be determined which character is recessive and 

 which is dominant. The results may vary in each individual 

 case where the characters are brought into conjunction. 



On occasion also, an apparently new character may be 

 introduced. Weismann, in The Germplasm (1892), has ex- 

 plained that this character is not new but had been present 

 in a latent condition in one of the parents. 



A much more frequent variation of the hybrid from the 

 parent lies in the rate of growth. This may be slower or faster. 

 With nearly-related parents it is usually faster, but no generalisa- 

 tion can be made. As an instance of this, Buddleia hybrids have 

 been known to grow as big in three years as the parents would 

 grow in five or six. These examples do not, by any means, 

 exhaust the recorded variations in hybrids, but they will serve 

 to broaden our views on the possibilities. 



We may now proceed to examine the case for and against 

 hybridity in the larch. In the first place, it is found that most 

 of the plants show somewhat intermediate characters in their 

 shoots. These lack the red colour which is so characteristic of 

 Japanese larch and approach nearer to the colour that is found 

 in the European species. 



It must be observed, however, that all the plants raised from 

 seed collected off one tree do not always show this blended 

 character. It is often possible to divide the plants into three 

 groups, viz.- — -(i) Those that show distinct L. leptokpis characters ; 

 (2) those in which there are intermediate characters; (3) 

 those in which there is an approach to L. europaa. The 

 presence of pure Japanese larch plants need not be associated 

 with any dominance of characters. The plants, if hybrids, are 

 natural ones, and there is always a chance of no specific cross 

 taking place. 



The appearance of an approach to European larch is not so 

 easily explained. It cannot be said that there is any difference 

 in the leaves and cones of the known parent and offspring. 

 Both are of the normal L. leptokpis type. The rapidity of 

 growth will be referred to in detail later on, here it is sufficient 



