Raniuiculiis Buibusiis Sciiiiplciiiis. 



259 



on those plants which opened their first flower in Se])- 

 teniber, than on those which had already begun to flower 

 in July and August. The number of individuals of the 

 former group was 77; they produced 1134 flowers du- 

 ring the period ending with the beginning of November, 

 •when I stopped recording. In the other grou]) there were 

 295 plants which flowered, and they produced 4425 flow- 

 ers. The distribution was as follows:^ 



Petals: S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16-31 



Oldest plants. 409 532 638 690 764 599 414 212 80 29 18 20 



September plants: 40 52 126 165 204 215 177 104 35 8 4 



Fig. 53. Raiiiuiculiis bulbosus semiplcnus. A, curve of the 

 plants Howering in August; S, curve of those flowering 

 in September. The ligures at the base refer to the num- 

 ber of petals per flower. 



These figures are exhibited graphically in Fig. ^Z ; 

 they have been reduced for convenience of comparison 

 so that the numbers in the two groups are about the same. 

 The apex of the curve of the early flowering plants is 

 over the 9; it is the same curve which has already been 

 given in Fig. 51 on page 249 for the year 1(S92. The 

 other curve has its apex over the 10, and also remains 

 above the other curve in the right half of its course. 



The cause of this difference can only lie in the re- 

 tarded germination. Fither the seeds which germinate 

 later are intrinsically more productive of pleiopetalous 



^ See above, p. 2"'? yi?n Fig. :;? ^892). 



