258 Retrograde Varieties 



some years did not give any seed at all, so that 

 the operation had to be repeated in order to 

 continue the experiment. Last summer (1903) 

 I had a nice lot of some 25 biennial specimens 

 blooming abundantly. All in all I have grown 

 some 500 hybrids, and of these about 150 speci- 

 mens flowered. 



These plants were all of the same type, re- 

 sembling in most points the pollen-parent, and 

 in some others the pistil-parent of the original 

 cross. The most obvious characteristic marks 

 are afforded by the flowers, which in 0. muri- 

 cata are not half so large as in biennis, 

 though borne by a calyx-tube of the same 

 length. In this respect the hybrid is like the 

 biennis bearing the larger flowers. These may 

 at times seem to deviate a little in the direction 

 of the other parent, being somewhat smaller 

 and of a slightly paler color. But it is very 

 difficult to distinguish between them, and if 

 biennis and hybrid flowers were separated from 

 the plants and thrown together, it is very doubt- 

 ful whether one would succeed in separating 

 them. 



The next point is offered by the foliage. The 

 leaves of 0. biennis are broad, those of 0. muri- 

 cata narrow. The hybrid has the broad leaves 

 of 0. biennis during most of its life and at the 

 time of flowering. Yet small deviations in the 



