CHAP. IX. SELF-STEBILE PLANTS. 339 



numerous as, or very nearly so, and as fine as those 

 on the unprotected plants growing near. 



The above three spontaneously self-fertilised cap 

 sules produced by the two almost completely self- 

 sterile plants, contained altogether five seeds ; and 

 from these I raised in the following year (1871) five 

 plants, which were kept under separate nets. They 

 grew to an extraordinarily large size, and on August 

 29th were examined. At first sight they appeared 

 entirely destitute of capsules ; but on carefully search- 

 ing their many branches, two or three capsules were 

 found on three of the plants, half-a-dozen on the 

 fourth, and about eighteen on the fifth plant. But all 

 these capsules were small, some being empty; the 

 greater number contained only a single seed, and very 

 rarely more than one. After this examination the 

 nets were taken off, and the bees immediately carried 

 pollen from one of these almost self-sterile plants 

 to the other, for no other plants grew near. After a 

 few weeks the ends of the branches on all five plants 

 became covered with capsules, presenting a curious 

 contrast with the lower and naked parts of the same 

 long branches. These five plants therefore inherited 

 almost exactly the same sexual constitution as their 

 parents ; and without doubt a self-sterile race of 

 Mignonette could have been easily established. 



Reseda lutea. Plants of this species were raised 

 from seeds gathered from a group of wild plants grow- 

 ing at no great distance from my garden. After 

 casually observing that some of these plants were self- 

 sterile, two plants taken by hazard were protected 

 under separate nets. One of these soon became 

 covered with spontaneously self-fertilised capsules, as 

 numerous as those on the surrounding unprotected 

 plants; so that it was evidently quite self-fertile. 



z 2 



