254 A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY 
When the seeds formed in this way germinate, they produce 
plants that are called hybrids; that is, plants whose two 
parents belong to different species or races. The hybrid 
usually shows some combination of the characters of both 
parents, but it may be very different from either. 
In this way new kinds of plants often arise in nature, 
and advantage is taken of this fact to produce new forms in 
cultivation. This cross-pollination between plants of differ- 
ent kinds, resulting in cross-fertilization, is usually spoken 
of simpiy as crossing, and the use of crossing in producing 
new forms will be spoken of more fully in the chapter on 
plant breeding. An illustration of what is meant by hybrids 
may be obtained from corn. There are several races of 
corn that differ in the color of the grains, which are white, 
yellow, red, or lead-colored. If a white race be crossed 
with a red race, the resulting ears will be hybrids, and will 
very likely show both colors in the same ear. When the 
grains are sown and produce new plants, these plants are 
hybrids and will show resemblances to both parents. 
