108 



THE A^IERICAX BOTANIST 



through a good-sized colony of any plant, he does not realize 

 the amount of variation in the species that is constantly crop- 

 ping out. Differences in color are possibly the most numerous, 

 but variations in size, time of blooming, floriferousness and 

 many other features abound. The philosophical botanist in 

 taking note of these may find entertainment that is C[uite as 

 pleasant as discovering the species themselves. — Ed.] 



Color Chaxges ix Yellow Flowers. — Plants with 

 pure yellow flowers rarely produce albinos though they may 

 give rise to blossoms much paler than ordinary. These are 

 often spoken of as primrose-colored forms. In Composites 

 with vellow or orange-yellow rays, a number of these paler 

 forms have been distinguished and named. It would appear 

 from the studies of Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell that the paler 

 color may be due to the dropping out of a ''determiner" whose 

 presence accounts for the deeper color in other flowers. Breed- 

 ing experiments have shown that the primrose color is "re- 

 cessive" to orange yellow, as the evolutionists say, and breeds 

 out according to ]Mendelian principles. Sections of some of 

 the flowers show that the difference in color is largely due to 

 a dift'erence in the amount of pigment in the cells, though the 

 pigment itself may be paler in the aberrant forms. The phe- 

 nomena of these colors are doubtless akin to the condition in 

 normally red flowers or fruits which on occasion produce yel- 

 low variations. 



Doctorates ix Botaxy. — Each year the colleges and 

 universities turn loose a new crop of Doctors — not the medical 

 variety, Avhich is likely first to come to mind and which has 

 special schools for its production — but Doctors of Philosophy. 

 During the past seventeen vears 2,786 degrees of this kind have 

 been conferred in science. The crop for 1914: is reasonably 

 good and consists of 2-11 degrees though it is probably regarded 

 as a short crop by many who would add a handle to their 

 names. It will probably be no consolation to such to be re- 



