26 
ORLAND E. WHITE 
grosser morphological features, excepting pollen color. Habit, foliage, 
height and floral characters were in all plants practically of the same 
type and no evidences of a difference in genotypical constitution were 
to be observed except for the case mentioned. The anomaly expressed 
itself to about the same degree in all 70 plants, and had I desired to 
begin selection work toward securing a double-flowering Nicotiana, 
one plant would have been as good a starting point as another. 
Summarizing these facts, one finds that where the anomalous race 
was heterozygous in many characters, the expression of petalody 
was extremely variable; while in the race largely homozygous, prac- 
tically no variation in the abnormality was noted. 
2. PiSTILLODY 
This anomaly consists of the presence of small pistils in connection 
with the anthers. Sometimes these little pistils amount to no more 
than a style and a stigma; at other times, the anther or pollen-sacs 
may be partly changed into carpels and rudimentary^ ovules produced. 
Occasionally such ovules are fertile and produce seeds. An examina- 
tion of the literature on the subject shows the character to be neither 
common nor rare. Usually it is so small and inconspicuous that it 
passes unnoticed, but in the opium poppy, it is showy and character- 
izes a distinct horticultural variety. Papaver somniferum var. 
monstruosum or var. polycephalum, as it is sometimes called, affords the 
material for a very interesting chapter on pistillody in "Species and 
Varieties, their Origin by Mutation" (de Vries, 1906, Chap. 13). 
The writings of Masters, DeCandolle, and Hofmeister also contain 
valuable information on this subject. Masters considered the anomaly 
to be an accidental phenomenon, while DeCandolle in his Prodromus 
described pistilloid wall flowers as a distinct variety. The pistilloid 
poppy is at least a century old, and was grown as a field crop in Europe, 
being especially valuable because its anomalous condition did not 
allow the capsule to open and scatter the seed. De Vries (1906, 
pp. 369-99) found these poppies, in respect to their chief peculiarity, 
very sensitive to environment, especially during the first two to five 
weeks of their seedling stages. By manipulating the soil conditions 
at the proper time, he was able to increase and decrease the anomalous 
expression. Plants almost normal and those extremely abnormal 
were produced in this manner. Selection had no permanent effect 
