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THE STAMENS OF ERYTHRONIUM AMERICAN UM 



By Paul W. Graff 



Since the subject of genetics and heredity has become a 

 "popular" one with both botanists and naturalists as well as 

 zoologists, those interested in these branches of science have 

 come to be on the lookout for the unusual in form or color in 

 the common things about us. Last spring while wandering 

 along the banks of a wooded stream in the town of Mansfield, 

 Connecticut, I happened on such a quantity of our common 

 yellow adder's tongue that I picked a large bunch to take home 

 with me. On my return there chanced to be a young botanist, 

 as yet unfamiliar with the use of keys, at the house and we 

 started, with a copy of "Gray's New Manual," to find out what 

 we had. 



The start was easy but the end a surprise. Our plant certainly 

 belonged neither to the Commelinaceae nor to the Pontederiaceae 

 and yet the stamens were dissimilar. The only way to get our 

 plant in the Lily Family was for all the stamens to be alike and 

 this was not true of them. Our plants had their stamens in 

 two sets of three, one set being about four fifths the length of 

 the other, and of these the shorter seemed to show a slight 

 tendency toward a later maturing of the pollen. 



I next hunted up my copy of "Britton and Brown" with a 

 feeling of assurance that here at least there would be no difficulty. 

 My feeling was fully justified, for we had no difficulty in "running 

 down" our flower with its aid. We found no mention of any 

 difference or a similarity of the stamens in either key or species 

 description. A surprise awaited me, however, when I looked at 

 the illustration accompanying the description for the stamens 

 were clearly shown as being all of one length. 



As a result I began immediately to surmise that I had made 

 the discovery of an abnormality. My interest was increased 

 when, on examining the fifty or more blossoms I had brought in, 

 I found them all to be similar. My curiosity being aroused, 

 the next day I returned to the spot and examined a large quantity 



