144 A NEW EVENING PRIMROSE. GATES. 



gentes. Alabastrse rarissimis longis et multis brevis pilis 

 instructse, obsolete quadrangulares ; apices sepalorum, ter- 

 minales, approximati. 



The main distinctive features of this segregate from 

 Oe. muricata are (1) the broad, nearly smooth leaves of 

 the rosette having relativelj'^ narrow, pale pink midribs, 

 (2) the red stems with leaves tapering at both ends and 

 bracts somewhat curled, (3) the green buds and small flowers. 



The plants from which this species is described were 

 grown at the Universitj^ of California in 1916 from seeds 

 collected on the North Mountain road above the reservoir 

 near Middleton, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, in Septem- 

 ber 1914. A type specimen is preserved in the Herbarium 

 of the University of California, No. 193440. 



As a part of my cultures in 1916, one thousand seeds of 

 this species were germinated by placing them between 

 blotters in a germinating incubator. The air in their seed 

 coats had previously been replaced with water by putting 

 the seeds in water under a bell jar and exhausting the air 

 with an air-pump. In one month 836 of the seeds in the 

 blotters had germinated, or 83.6%. Examination of the 

 remaining seeds showed that 127 of them, or 12.7% of the 

 whole number, were empty or contained quite small embryos. 

 Thus almost complete germination was obtained. Of the 

 seedlings which germinated, 424 were planted in soil in a 

 greenhouse, and 370 of these were afterwards transplanted 

 outdoors and grown to maturity. They were a very uniform 

 lot, showing ver^^ little variability. A few, however, differed 

 in having smaller rosettes with white midribs, and some of 

 these produced dwarfed plants. It is probable that these 

 dwarfed individuals received less water under the conditions 

 of irrigation, and that they were therefore not genetic 

 dwarfs. This point will be tested another year by growing 

 their seeds. The only other variations noted were in width 

 of loaves and in smoothness or slight crinkling of the leaves. 



