By the Hon. and Rev. William Herbert. 49 



genera Crinum and Amaryllis, the bulb of the mule appears 

 to take strongly after the male in form and colour; the lower 

 part of the leaves also takes the colour of the male : and in 

 Gladiolus the sheath that incloses the bottom of the leaves 

 and stalk, seems always to follow the marking of the male 

 species. I have as yet seen nothing that militates against 

 these observations ; and I think there will be found a pre- 

 vailing, though probably not an invariable, disposition 

 amongst hybrid vegetables, to conform with such laws. 



With respect to the fertility of mule plants, I am disposed 

 to think that where there is a marked difference in the form 

 of the corolla of the parents, the mules will be sterile, and 

 that where the distinction lies in the leaves, in the colour of 

 the flower, in pubescence, and other such particulars, the 

 offspring will be fertile. The genus Crinum consists of three 

 divisions, those with narrow radiate or reflected petals, as 

 C. toxicarium ; those with broader and more coinpanulate 

 petals, like C. giganteum : and those with a funnel-shaped 

 corolla, like C. Capense ; C. Americanum being, however, 

 intermediate between the two former divisions, and C. flac- 

 cidum between the two latter. I imagine that although all 

 the species of Crinum may breed together, the mules pro- 

 duced between plants with the campanulale corolla, and 

 those of either of the two other divisions, will be sterile. 

 The difference of stigma in Amaryllis Reginae and A. vittata 

 lias not however occasioned sterility in the plants produced 

 by their union. The ovarium and even the cells of the 

 germen of the superb Crinum amabile are so imperfect, that 

 it appears, if not absolutely incapable, at least very unlikely 

 to produce seed often, and I have no knowledge of its ever 



vol. iv. H 



Mo. Bot. Garden, 



1897. 



