166 



Flowers formed per inflorescence and seeds developing per 

 fruit, 



r = .033 ± .013. 



Fruits maturing per inflorescence and seeds developing per 



fruit, 



f = — .012 ± .013. 



For large series of Siaphylea trifolia from the Missouri Botan- 

 ical Garden the correlations have been determined both between 

 number of fruits developing per inflorescence and number of 

 seeds maturing per locule and between position of fruit on the 

 inflorescence axis and number of seeds maturing per locule. The 

 same relationships for the ovules per locule are available for 

 comparison.* Table I. shows how slender the relationships are. 



Table I 





Character of Fruit 



Character of Inflorescence 



Seeds per Locule 



Ovules per Locule 



Number of fruits per inflorescence: 



General sample, 1906, 2,059 fruits. . 



General sample, 1908, 4,033 fruits. . 



General sample, 1909, 2,082 fruits. . 



Mean for 20 individual shrubs of 



1906 series 



Position of fruit on inflorescence: 



General sample, 1906, 2,059 fruits. . 



General sample, 1908, 4,033 fruits. . 



General sample, 1909, 2,083 fruits. . 



Mean for 20 individual shrubs of 



— .0474 ±.0086 



— .0494 ±.0061 

 + .0626^.0085 



— .0399 ±.0080 



— .0148^.0086 



— .0077 ±.0061 

 + .0128 ±.0085 



— .0310 ±.0088 



+.0391 ±.0086 

 + .0633 ±.0061 

 -■0539=^-0085 



+.0192 ±.0185 



— .0501 ±.0086 



— .0519 ±.0061 



— .0895 ±.0085 



— .0733 ±.0177 







A comparison of these results shows how great caution should 

 be used in discussing the factors underlying seed development, 

 and how urgently further quantitative data are needed. The 

 accumulation of such data necessarily proceeds slowly and the 

 cooperation of many workers is desirable. The purpose of this 



* The data upon which all these constants are based, with discussions of their 

 significance, are to be found in three papers by the writer of this note: Further 

 Observations on the Selective Elimination of Ovaries in Staphylea. Zeitschrift 

 f. Ind. Abst- u. Vererbungslehre S: 173-188. 191 1. Observations on the Physi- 

 ology of Seed Development in Staphylea. Beihefte z. Bot. Centralbl. In press. 

 The Influence of the Seed upon the Size of the Fruit in Staphylea. Bot. Gaz. 

 In press. 



