ON THE ONION FAMILY 



the plants that grew from these seeds bore no 

 resemblance to the horseradish. 



The interesting features of this loss of the 

 power of seed production by plants that have for 

 long periods been propagated by the root or from 

 cuttings or tubers — including plants of such diverse 

 races as the banana, the pineapple, the sugar-cane, 

 and the potato, and nearly all plants generally 

 cultivated in greenhouses, along with the horse- 

 radish — have elsewhere been referred to. I may 

 add that the loss of power to produce seeds in the 

 case of the potato is not of necessity comple- 

 mentary to the capacity to produce tubers. For 

 at least once in my experience a potato plant that 

 by rare exception produced seed developed at the 

 same time some of the largest tubers that I have 

 ever seen. 



Nevertheless there is an association between 

 seed production and development of the root 

 system, as we have seen illustrated. And it is not 

 unlikely that development of the root of the horse- 

 radish may have had an influence on its seed- 

 bearing capacity. It may be recalled that the 

 carrot and parsnip which produce roots somewhat 

 suggestive of that of the horseradish in shape and 

 relative size, are biennials, and do not take on 

 the functions of root and of seed-development in 

 the same season. 



[173] 



