68 Plant-Breeding 



sharply set off against the stalk. The mature ' plant 

 has broad sinuate leaves with rounded tips, which are 

 often crowded together on the summits of the stems and 

 branches to form rosettes. (E. lata may be considered 

 a true mutation, and when crossed with (E. Lamarkiana, 

 the progeny of the second generation segregates into 

 mendelian proportions, lata being recessive (Fig. 19). 

 Group V, perfectly fertile but inconstant species : 

 (E. scintillans is characterized by the production of 

 deep green leaves with smooth, shiny surfaces, "glisten- 

 ing in the sunshine." The plants are smaller and less 

 branched than the parental type. (E. scintillans is a 

 very inconstant form ; from the seeds which are produced 

 in great numbers, there results not only scintillans, but 

 Lamarkiana, oblonga, lata, and nanella, with a predomi- 

 nance of the parental Lamarkiana. In regard to its in- 

 stability, de Vries says, "The instability seems to be a 

 constant quality, although the words themselves are at 

 first sight contradictory. I mean to convey the con- 

 ception that the degree of instability remains unchanged 

 during the successive generations." 



(E. elliptica is a very rare form both in the wild state 

 and in cultivation. It is characterized by having narrow 

 elliptical leaves and elliptical petals. 



ANALYTICAL TABLE OF SEEDLINGS (After de Vries) 



I. Leaves stalked. 



A. Leaves of the same breadth or 



broader. 1 



1. Of the same breadth and shape, 

 not to be distinguished as 



1 " (than in Lamarkiana) " as also in the other analytical tables. 



