518 



Ihc lucunsfaiicy of FasciafccI Races. 



as Solms-Laubacii suggests, to ultimately obtain the un- 

 fasciated original form of this highly moditied plant. ^ 

 But according to the view laid down in this book, a mu- 

 tation would be necessary for this ; 

 and, so far as we know, these ap- 

 pear only very seldom and fortui- 

 tously, unless we happen to meet 

 with a plant in a mutational period. 

 During the years 1893-1897 I 

 endeavored to obtain a race devoid 

 of fasciations, but in vain ; and in- 

 asmuch as the general rule is that 

 fa\'orable circumstances increase 

 the production of the anomalies, 

 and as correspondingly the worst 

 nourished and w^eakest individuals 

 have alwavs borne the smallest fas- 

 ciations, I w^as ultimately o1)liged 

 to give up the experiment, because 

 my strain gradually became very 

 much debilitated without, however, 

 producing the desired result. 



In 1893 I raised about fifty 

 ])lants from bought seed, but difl 

 not make any detailed record of 

 them. Most of them produced 

 combs in every degree of de\'el- 

 opment,^ but usually of small size, 

 5 — 10 centimeters broad or less. 



Fig. 117. Celosia cris- 

 tata. Top of a plant 

 about Vz meter high ; 

 the stem was much 

 branched and its in- 

 florescences were ear- 

 shaped l)ut mostly with 

 comb-shaped tops. 



^ n. Solms-Laubach, Bof. Zcitung, 1900, p. 42. 



^ The plane of the fasciation is the median plane of the cotyle- 

 dons ; and this is also the case in Crcpis biennis. This fact might 

 be used as a starting point for an inquiry into the ontogeny of fas- 

 ciations. 



