MENDELISM 7 



Mendel's method of experimentation was as follows — 

 First of all he removed the anthers from a flower just 

 before they were ripe, in order to prevent self-fertilization : 

 this would be the female parent. Then he placed upon its 

 stigma the ripe pollen from another flower, the male parent. 

 Fig. 4 shows the pollen from a r<?«/^-seeded plant 

 being placed upon the stigma of a plant which produces 

 angular seeds. The round seeds and the angular seeds 

 constitute a pair of contrasted characters. These angular 

 seeds when ripe were sown, and produced plants which 



Anther 

 *1*»«'.X% discharging 

 »...v\A Pollen. 



Ripe Angular ggA \2 b/ ( 'Wi Ripe Round 



Seed. v -*^ ^J^/ V^ Seed 



Ovary containing 

 Nine Ovules. 



Fig. 4. 



Cross fertilization. 



were, of course, hybrids, so far as the shape of the seeds 

 was concerned, for the shape differed in the two parent 

 plants. 



What Mendel wished to observe in this experiment was 

 the shape of the seeds in this hybrid offspring. Other 

 characters were crossed in a similar manner, such as — 



A tall with a dwarf plant ; 

 Yellow-seeded with green-seeded plants ; 

 Coloured flowers with white flowers, and so on. 



In each case the male plant showed one character, it 

 mattered not which, and the female showed the contrasted 

 character. 



