588 Mutations 



both seasons were sown on a large scale. Both 

 the first and the succeeding generations of 

 the offspring of the original plant came true 

 without any exception. Intermediates are 

 often found in hybrid cultures, and in them the 

 character is a very variable one, but as yet they 

 were not met with in progeny of this mutant. 

 All these plants were exactly like 0. biennis, 

 with the single exception of their petals. 



Epilobium Mrsutum cruciatum was discov- 

 ered by John Rasor near Woolpit, Bury St. Ed- 

 munds, in England. It flowered in one spot, 

 producing about a dozen stems, among large 

 quantities of the parent-species, which is very 

 common there, as it is elsewhere in Europe. 

 This species is a perennial, multiplying itself by 

 underground runners, and the stems of the 

 new variety were observed to stand so close to 

 each other that they might be considered as the 

 shoots of one individual. In this case this spec- 

 imen might probably be the original mutant, as 

 the variety had not been seen on that spot in 

 previous years, even as it has not been found 

 elsewhere in the vicinity. 



Intermediates were not observed, though the 

 difference is a very striking one. In the cru- 

 ciate flowers the broad and bright purple petals 

 seem at first sight to be wholly wanting. They 

 are too weak to expand and to reflex the calyx 



