CONTROL SERIES No. 107 



STUDIES OF FLOWER SEEDS 



Conducted by the Department of Floriculture 

 Clark L. Thayer, Professor 



For the fifth season the Department of Floriculture has cooperated with the 

 Seed Laboratory in maintaining trials to determine the quality of flower seed 

 sold in retail seed stores, garages, hardware stores, groceries, schools, and other 

 retail outlets. The seeds, which were collected by the State Seed Inspector, 

 were tested for germination and performance under field conditions. 



Seeds of 194 lots, representing 46 genera, packeted by 32 different wholesalers, 

 and obtained from 53 retail outlets, were classified as follows: 



Acroclinium 1 



Ageratum 6 



Alyssum 6 



Antirrhinum (Snapdragon) 5 



Arctotis 1 



Arnebia 1 



Calendula 9 



Calliopsis 1 



Callistephus (Aster) 11 



Celosia (Cockscomb) 3 



Centaurea (including Bachelor Button). . . 9 



Chrysanthemum 4 



Cleome 1 



Cosmos 7 



Delphinium (Larkspur) 5 



Dianthus 2 



Didiscus 1 



Dimorphotheca (African Daisy) 1 



Eschscholtzia (California Poppy) 1 



Euphorbia (Snow-on-the-Mountaini .... 4 



Gaillardia 3 



Gilia 1 



Godetia 1 



Gypsophila (Baby's Breath) 3 



Helianthus (Sunflower) 2 



Iberis (Candytuft) 4 



Impatiens (Balsam) 3 



Ipomoea (Moonflower and Morning Glory) 7 



Lobelia 2 



Lupinus (Lupine) 3 



Matthiola (Stock) 1 



Mirabilis (Four-O'Clock) 2 



Nemophila 1 



Nicotiana 1 



Papaver (Poppy) 3 



Petunia 5 



Phlox 5 



Portulaca , 2 



Reseda (Mignonette) 4 



Salvia 5 



Sanvitalia 1 



Scabiosa 5 



Tagetes (Marigold) 13 



Tropaeolum (Nasturtium) 13 



Verbena 5 



Zinnia 20 



TOTAL 194 



No germination tests were made in the laboratory on any of the lots of seed, 

 since many of the packets contained too small a quantity of seed for both field 

 and laboratory tests. Remarks on germination observed in the field are com- 

 parative and are not rated on a percentage basis. 



When the number of seeds permitted, rows fifteen feet long were sown. Ger- 

 mination was rated as "good" if the seeds germinated in approximately two-thirds 

 of the row; "fair" between one-third and two-thirds; "poor" for one-third or less. 

 Performance was designated as "satisfactory" if the varieties were true to name, 

 producing only a low percentage of plants which were not true to form or color 

 (one-third) or less; "fair" between one-third and two-thirds not true; and "not 

 satisfactory" if less than one-third was true to name or did not produce satis- 

 factory plants for providing sufficient data. 



As far as possible trueness-to-type was determined, but since many lots were 

 described as mixtures or did not carry varietal names, a wide range in color and 

 form was permissible. 



The seeds were sown on June IS and 19, approximately ten days later than in 

 1939. A slight frost which occurred on the morning of August 25 injured some 

 of the plants slightly, but practically all varieties recovered from the injury. 



