146 



of the pod. The color of the corolla-blades is a sea-foam yellow 

 rather than white, and the eye is of Tyrian rose, which is a rather 

 intense shade of red. There are further distinguishing characters 

 in the small stigmatic lobes, which here are scarcely expanded 

 ends of the divisions, and in the light yellow or almost white 

 color of the pollen. There is also a considerable difference in 

 the length of the various stamens, those at the base of the 

 stamen-ring having shorter filaments, and there is considerable 

 red in stems and foliage quite as in Races 6 and 7 of Hibiscus 

 Moscheutos described above. 



Some lines of descent have bred remarkably true to the above 

 mentioned characters, but others have shown considerable varia- 

 tion in the color of the fiowers, the tendency seeming to be 

 toward decreased intensity of the eye area and to the develop- 

 ment of pale diffuse colors in the blade. Theie has also been a 

 pronounced tendency toward dwarfness, as has been discussed 

 by the writer (Stout, 1915). 



Hybrids between H. oculiroseiis and H. Moscheutos. 



Britton and Brown (191 3) recognize a hybrid between these 

 two species and note that it is intermediate in flower character. 

 The writer has produced these hybrids in pedigreed cultures 

 from seed obtained by controlled pollinations. The Fi hybrids 

 between the typical ociiliroseus and Moscheutos (Races i, 2 and 3) 

 have flowers with an eye of less intense color than has H. ociiliros- 

 eus combined with a pale pink blade. The stigmas, stamens 

 and pod characters are rather intermediate. It may be noted 

 that the beautifully colored illustration given in Flore des Serres, 

 vol. 12, Plates 1233-1234, 1857, and there identified as Hibiscus 

 Moscheutos is an exact representation of the Fi hybrids of this 

 cross. The F2 generation breaks up into almost every conceiv- 

 able grade of variation in regard to eye and blade colorations 

 and to characteristics of stigma, stamens and pods. 



Fi plants of the cross between H. ociiliroseus and H. Moscheutos, 

 Race 5, are at first sight quite readily taken for H. oculiroseus, 

 but a more careful examination shows that the eye is paler and 

 the blades are dead white instead of pale sea-foam yellow. 

 Plants of the Fo generation of this cross have not yet bloomed. 



