H 4 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [FEBRUARY 



The results here presented both in regard to Lychnis and Helian- 

 thus show that Mendelian phenomena stand in no relation to self- 

 fertilization, since neither of these species can self -fertilize. Emphasis 

 upon this point should not be needed, since many of the most typical 

 cases of Mendelian inheritance occur among animals, where the sexes 

 are almost invariably separated. 



VERBASCUM BLATTARIA L. 



There are two color- varieties of this widely distributed species, one 

 having bright-yellow flowers, and the other having the flowers almost 

 white. If examined carefully, however, the pale flowers are seen to 

 be cream colored rather than pure white. Two considerations made 

 it appear desirable to determine the relation between these two color- 

 varieties by means of crossing, (a) Many cases are on record in 

 which albinos are found to be typical Mendelian recessives when 

 paired with certain colors. In Verbascum Blattaria the pale flowers 

 approach the albino condition, but both forms possess some color, 

 and it is of interest to know whether this pale-flowered form behaves 

 in the same manner as an albino, (b) Several studies in which yellow 

 has been paired with white have shown that yellow is in these cases 

 recessive to white. Thus CoRRENS 1 found white Polemonium coeruleum 

 dominant over the yellow P. flavum; and BATESON 2 has shown that 

 yellow-flowered stocks (Matthiola) are recessive to the white-flowered. 

 CORRENS' results with Polemonium stood alone at the time my 

 experiments with Verbascum were begun, as an instance in which a 

 white-flowered variety dominated one with colored flowers. It 

 seemed important on this account, also, to know what would be the 

 behavior of the yellow-flowered Verbascum Blattaria when crossed 

 with its pale-flowered form. 



To secure a solution to these problems, several crosses were made 

 during the summer of 1904. The seeds were sown in the spring of 



I 



1 CORRENS, C., Weitere Beitrage zur Kenntnis der dominierenden Merkmale und 

 der Mosaikbildung der Bastarde. Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. 21:195-201. 1903. 

 (See p. 198.^ 



a BATESON, W., SAUNDERS, Miss E. R., and PUNNETT, R. C., Reports to the 

 Evolution Committee of the Royal Society, II. 1905, and 111.1906. 



