Thus with Mimulus and Dianthus, in only
one pot out of ten, and in Nicotiana in only one pot out of sixteen, did
a self-fertilised plant flower before the plants of the two crossed
kinds,--these latter flowering almost simultaneously.
A consideration of the two first lists, especially of the second one,
shows that a tendency to flower first is generally connected with
greater power of growth, that is, with greater height. But there are
some remarkable exceptions to this rule, proving that some other cause
comes into play. Thus the crossed plants both of Lupinus luteus and
Clarkia elegans were to the self-fertilised plants in height as 100 to
82, and yet the latter flowered first. In the third generation of
Nicotiana, and in all three generations of Canna, the crossed and
self-fertilised plants were of nearly equal height, yet the
self-fertilised tended to flower first. On the other hand, with Primula
sinensis, plants raised from a cross between two distinct individuals,
whether these were legitimately or illegitimately crossed, flowered
before the illegitimately self-fertilised plants, although all the
plants were of nearly equal height in both cases. So it was with respect
to height and flowering with Phaseolus, Specularia, and Borago. The
crossed plants of Hibiscus were inferior in height to the
self-fertilised, in the ratio of 100 to 109, and yet they flowered
before the self-fertilised in three out of the four pots.
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