CHAP. V. 



LATHYRUS ODORATUS. 



157 



their father, the Purple pea, excepting that they were a little 

 lighter coloured, with their keels slightly streaked with pale 

 purple. Seeds from flowers spontaneously self-fertilised under a 

 net were at the same time saved from the same mother-plant, the 

 Painted Lady. These seeds unfortunately did not germinate on 

 sand at the same time with the crossed seeds, so that they could 

 not be planted simultaneously. One of the two crossed seeds in 

 a state of germination was planted in a pot (No. I.) in which a 

 self-fertilised seed in the same state had been planted four days 

 before, so that this latter seedling had a great advantage over 

 the crossed one. In Pot II. the other crossed seed was planted 

 two jdays before a self-fertilised one ; so that here the crossed 

 seedling had a considerable advantage over the self-fertilised one. 

 But this crossed seedling had its summit gnawed off by a slug, 

 and was in consequence for a time quite beaten by the self- 

 fertilised plant. Nevertheless I allowed it to remain, and so 

 great was its constitutional vigour that it ultimately beat its un- 

 injured self-fertilised rival. When all four plants were almost 

 fully grown they were measured, as here shown : 



TABLE LIV. 



Lathyrus odoratus. 



The two crossed plants here average 79*25, and the two self- 

 fertilised 63-75 inches in height, or as 100 to 80. Six flowers on 

 these two crossed plants were reciprocally crossed with pollen 

 from the other plant, and the six pods thus produced contained 

 on an average six peas, with a maximum in one of seven. Eigh- 

 teen spontaneously self-fertilised pods from the Painted Lady, 

 which, as already stated, had no doubt been self-fertilised for 

 many previous generations, contained on an average only 3 '93 

 peas, with a maximum in one of five peas ; so that the number 

 of peas in the crossed and self-fertilised pods was as 100 to 65. 



