Xo. 556] 



DEVELOPMENT IN NICOTIAN A 



211 



as twenty. Very often two or even three distinct pistils 

 were formed in the same flower, all of which in some 

 cases could function. The stamens were affected in both 

 filament and anther. The filaments were often coiled, 

 twisted, shortened or fused to the corolla. In rare cases, 

 they were petaliferous. The anther deformities con- 

 sisted of split anthers, anthers with small pistils grow- 

 ing from them — two or three to an anther being present 

 in one case (pistillody of the anthers). The number of 

 pollen sacs varied from the normal four to six. 



The corolla and calyx were often split, and the lobes 

 of the calyx and not uncommonly of the corolla, were ir- 

 regular in size and shape. Occasionally the calyx and 

 corolla merged into each other by a spiral twist. Two 

 flowers sometimes were enclosed by the same calyx. 

 Once or twice flowers have been found consisting of only 

 a corolla and a few stamens, growing on the side of the 

 normal corolla and partly fused with it. The corollas 

 never show a doubling phenomenon to accommodate the 

 increase in petal number but the circumference of the 

 flower is extended, and very often these flowers are as 

 regular and symmetrical as those of the normal. Two 

 cases of leaves fused at the base have been found and 

 the phyllotaxy is altered and irregular. The fasciated 

 plants when young are practically indistinguishable 

 from the normal. The anatomical features have not been 

 investigated sufficiently for a report upon them at this 

 time, and it is possible that differences between the nor- 

 mal and abnormal seedlings will be found when this part 

 of the study is completed. 



Five generations of the abnormal strain have been 

 grown, amounting in all to over a thousand plants, and 

 each individual plant has possessed the unmistakable 

 characters of the original mutant. The monstrous char- 

 acter is, however, a variable one, since the stems may be 

 extremely flattened throughout the greater part of their 

 length or only flattened and fasciated toward their apical 

 ends. Other characters, as already implied, fluctuate 

 between extremes, depending in part on environment 



