Studies of Teratological Phenomena. 53 



the character to.be entirely absent from some plant "groups", but present 

 in the individuals of the majority of them in a latent or inactive con- 

 dition. Moquin-Tandon and Godron (1871 — 72) state it to be more 

 common in dicotyledons than in monocotyledons, and several present-day 

 students, including de Yries, have expressed the same opinion. 

 Differences exist between the various famihes, genera and species as 

 to the frequency with which their members become fasciated. According 

 to Masters (1869, p. 20) the anomalous character is especially common 

 in certain species of Delphinium, Cheiranthes, Matthiola, Brassica, 

 Cichorium, Campanula, Euphorbia, Celosia, Fraxinus and Fritillaria. 

 Records of its occurrence in the Oenotheraceae and Compositae are 

 extremely numerous. These data, however, as I hope to show later, are 

 not to be taken as evidence that under the "right" ^) conditions, any 

 one species is more capable of producing fasciations than is any other. 



Examples of this anomaly have been recorded from trees, shrubs, 

 vines, and herbaceous plants. In the first two divisions, the branches 

 are most frequently fasciated; in the latter, the main stam is usually 

 altered. Annuals, biennials and perennials are subject to the monstrous 

 condition. De Vries secured the best developed examples in biennials, 

 such as Crepis (see Fig. 5), but among annuals, Celosia cristata, when 

 cultivated properly, produces magnificent specimens. 



Halophytic and hydrophytic environments do not seem favorable 

 to the production of fasciations, as I can find no evidence of such 

 plants in species characteristically growing under these conditions. 

 Xerophytic surroundings do not inhibit the creation of this class of 

 anomaly, as is shown by the frequency of its appearance in the hedge 

 cactus, Cereus marginatus (Starr 1899) of the dry Mexican plateau, 

 and in the desert loving genera Cereus and Epiphijllum, 



Celosia cristata does not lose its prominently combed inflorescence 

 under artificial drouth conditions. Sedum is characteristically a xero- 

 phytic genus, l)ut a well known fasciated variety of Sedum cristata has 

 existed in Europe for two centuries. Nicotiana tabacum fasciata still 

 retains its flattened stem when grown in dry, impoverished soil. 

 Fasciated plants may be produced in xerophytic species and persist 

 under such conditions, but an environment of this sort is not favorable 



^) "Right" conditions may signify many different sorts of environment, as environ- 

 ment favorable for the production of fasciation in one species may prove altogether 

 unfavorable in the case of other species. 



