242 The Pedigree Families. 



second or third leaf unfolds: these leaves are broad with 

 broad bases and long petioles. But most characteristic 

 is the broad and round shape of the tip of the leaf, a fea- 

 ture which is more or less distinctly pronounced during 

 all the rest of the life of the plant. The plants are always 

 low although the rosettes are large and strong, stronger 

 sometimes than those of Lamarckiana itself. The stem 

 is limp so that the top hangs over to the side even in the 

 healthiest plants. It is thickly covered with dense foliage. 

 The leaves are rounded at the apex and much crumpled. 

 The top of the growing stem, both in its young stages and 

 when it is covered with flowers, is in the form of a com- 

 pressed rosette. 



Everything in this plant is stout and broad, so that 

 they came to be known among us in the garden as ''fat- 

 heads." This character w^as particularly noticeable in 

 the case of the flower-buds just before they opened, and 

 has been well brought out by Pohl^s figures. The petals 

 do not unfold themselves completely but remain more 

 or less wrinkled. The stigmas are peculiar. As in the 

 case of O. Lamarckiana their number varies from a nor- 

 mal of four up to 8 and more, forming a so-called half- 

 curve. This matter has been made the subject of a thor- 

 ough study by Verschaffelt in the case of 0. La- 

 marckiana. The fusion of neighboring stigmas, which 

 occurs in the parent form, occurs in O. lata also. The 

 unequal development of the stigmas which occurs now 

 and again in Lamarckiana is exaggerated to an extra- 

 ordinary extent in the daughter species; and the most 

 curious malformations arise as the result of the fusion 

 referred to.-^ They do not however interfere with fertili- 

 zation. 



^ For figures of these see Pohl's paper, loc. cit., Taf. X, Fig. 27. 



