oil Inconspicuous Flowers. 
261 
The relation of the crossed to the self-fertilized plants is given 
as 100 to 86 in the cases of Iberis umbellata^ Origanum vulgar 
and Lupinus pilosus ; 100 to 88 for Ononis minutissima , and 100 
to 89 for Pap aver vagum 1 . In the cases of Stellar ia media and 
Capsella Bursa-pastoris, the cross-fertilized show an undoubted 
advantage over the self-fertilized, when both ,weight and size 
are considered, although the advantage in size alone is not so 
considerable. And it should be remembered that in such a 
case as Capsella cross-fertilization is very difficult to effect 
without injury to the flower, so that the seeds of self-fertilized 
flowers obtained by natural fertilization may have had an 
advantage to start with over those of the crossed ones. In 
the case of Polygonum avicidare , which is still more difficult to 
cross-fertilize, I have noticed that the seeds of crossed flowers 
look poor and deformed ; and among some capsules of artifi- 
cially self- fertilized seed of Capsella , obtained since the experi- 
ment given above, one of the capsules was deformed. Thus 
it would have been a better method to have obtained the self- 
fertilized seeds by artificial fertilization also. If, however, the 
relations of the crossed to the self-fertilized plants given above 
be taken as true, they would show that inconspicuous flowers do 
benefit by a cross, though apparently in a less degree than 
those adapted for cross-fertilization. 
In conclusion, I should wish to thank Mr. F. Darwin for the 
very kind assistance which he has given me in this work. 
1 Darwin, Cross and Self-Fertilization, chap. vii. Table A. 
Botanical Laboratory, Cambridge. 
