64 



VARIATION IN THE FLOWER OF THE WILD 

 CARROT, {Dauciis carota, L.) 



N. M. Grier 

 This study has been made with respect to the presence, absence, 

 and degree of development of the purple central flower or florets 

 in the umbels of the wild carrot. There are added in connection 

 those obser\'ations of early naturalists seemingly of interest. 

 Flowers from two localities were considered, Cold Spring Harbor, 

 N. Y. and Bellevue, Pa., with the following results. 





No. spec, with 







purple flower, 





No. specimens 



flowers, or pig- 



No. spec, without 



Localities examined. 



mentation in cen- 

 ter of umbel 



purple flowers etc. 



Cold Spring Harbor 3074 



1317 



1757 



Bellevue 3074 



292 



2782 



Totals 6148 1609 4539 



From the preceding it becomes clear that at least so far as 

 these localities are concerned, the purple flower when found is 

 in the minority, although more abundant at Cold Spring Harbor. 

 Gray's Manual states that the purple flower is usually present. 

 Upon the basis of a count of a smaller number of specimens, 

 some botanists have thought that the purple central flower is 

 present in about 50% of the plants. The table already pre- 

 sented can give only a rough idea as to the variation in the 

 number of purple flowers, and the distribution of purple pigment 

 in the umbels of the plant. Frequently an entire umbellet is 

 metamorphosed to produce a relatively gigantic purple flower, 

 or there may be many smaller ones of a lighter color representing 

 morphologically one umbellet. Occasionally two umbellets are 

 transformed in a similar fashion. At the extreme, are cases 

 reported me by botanists in which an entire quadrant of an 

 umbel is pinkish, but the flowers otherwise not distinctive. 

 I have seen but one similar case. The variation in the number 

 of the purple flowers, and the distribution of purple pigment 

 in the umbels of the plant is presented in the following compila- 

 tion, inspection of which indicates further the greater degree of 

 variation among the flowers at Cold Spring Harbor. 



