Miscellanea 
227 
V. Variability in Shirley Poppies from Pretoria. 
Dr Maynard sends me the following data for the varial)ility of the stigniatic bands on three 
Shirley Poppies, self-sown from a single poppy. The first poppy had no loss than 468 capsules, 
the second 425, the third had probably hardly fewer, but when about one-third of the capsules 
(123) had been counted, the garden boy removed the plant. 
The results obtained were as follows : 
Capsules 
Mean 
S. D. 
First Poppy 
468 
11-079 
1-233 
Second Poppy 
425 
12-595 
1-519 
Third Poppy 
(123 + ) 
13-085 
Together 
1016 
11-955 
1-576 
I found in 1899* that my two most prolific Shirley Poppies had 126 and 85 capsules 
respectively, giving S.D.'s of 1-329 and 1-589. There thus appears no striking increase in the 
variability of the individual plant after transfer to Pretoria. The mean values are possibly 
rather low, but plenty of individual poppies show as low a result. Only two out of 15 crops t 
gave a mean value less than 12 on English soil. On the whole the chief difference appears to 
be the prolific character of the Shirley Poppy in the Transvaal. 
Dr Maynard has fitted his data to frequency curves, reproduced in the accompanying 
diagrams. It will be seen that the individual variation closely accords with Type II, or is 
synmietrical but hardly Gaussian. The total material exhibits a very slight skewness, caused 
probably by the heterogeneity resulting from three large groups. That this is not more marked 
is almost certainly due to the fiict that the three poppies have all the same mother-plant, 
and were possibly the result of self-fertilisation. 
K. P. 
* Phil. Tram. Vol. 1!)5, A, p. Hlfi. 
t Biomctrika, Vol. iv ji. 401. 
29—2 
