RED CLOVER 393 



Hiltner and Kingel examined a sample of red clover 

 seed that had been stored 8 years. It was separated into 

 three lots : first, those which were apparently unchanged ; 

 second, those which were pale in color ; and third, those 

 which were brown and more or less shriveled. Of the 

 first lot 10.5 per cent germinated and 81.9 per cent re- 

 mained hard. In the other lots the germination ranged 

 from 1.7 to 8.1 per cent. By scratching the seed coats 

 of those that remained hard, it was found that nearly all 

 were viable. 



465. Color of seeds. The seeds of red clover are 

 either pure yellow or more or less completely tinged with 

 violet, but never wholly violet. There is a popular 

 belief that violet-tinged seed is superior in viability and 

 vigor. This subject has received attention from various 

 investigators. 



Gernert in Illinois finds that white-flowered plants 

 produce yellow seeds without trace of purple. Plants 

 with dark red flowers yield invariably seeds much tinged 

 with violet, while those with pink flowers in some cases 

 produced yellow seeds. The violet color appears late, 

 and may not show in prematurely gathered seeds. Five 

 plants were selected, each with a different seed color; 

 namely, pea ; purple tint on yellow ; reddish-purple on 

 yellow; medium purple on yellow; dark purple on 

 yellow. The progeny of each of these showed a wide 

 range as regards seed color, indicating that the parent 

 plants were heterozygote as regards seed color. The 

 data suggest that the character is a Mendelian one, and 

 that it is entirely feasible to isolate strains with violet- 

 tinged seeds. 



Friiwirth in Austria concludes that there is a tendency 

 for clover plants to produce seeds of one color. Thus 



