The great majority had their petals longitudinally and variously striped
with the two colours,--the groundwork tint being, however, in some cases
darker than that of the mother-plants.
12. MALVACEAE.--Hibiscus africanus.
Many flowers on this Hibiscus were crossed with pollen from a distinct
plant, and many others were self-fertilised. A rather larger
proportional number of the crossed than of the self-fertilised flowers
yielded capsules, and the crossed capsules contained rather more seeds.
The self-fertilised seeds were a little heavier than an equal number of
the crossed seeds, but they germinated badly, and I raised only four
plants of each lot. In three out of the four pots, the crossed plants
flowered first.
TABLE 4/48. Hibiscus africanus.
Heights of plants measured in inches.
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Crossed Plants.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants.
Pot 1 : 13 4/8 : 16 2/8.
Pot 2 : 14 : 14.
Pot 3 : 8 : 7.
Pot 4 : 17 4/8 : 20 4/8.
Total : 53.00 : 57.75.
The four crossed plants average 13.25, and the four self-fertilised
14.43 inches in height; or as 100 to 109. Here we have the unusual case
of self-fertilised plants exceeding the crossed in height; but only four
pairs were measured, and these did not grow well or equally. I did not
compare the fertility of the two lots.
CHAPTER V.
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