The above three spontaneously self-fertilised capsules produced by the
two almost completely self-sterile plants, contained altogether five
seeds; and from these I raised in the following year (1871) five plants,
which were kept under separate nets. They grew to an extraordinarily
large size, and on August 29th were examined. At first sight they
appeared entirely destitute of capsules; but on carefully searching
their many branches, two or three capsules were found on three of the
plants, half-a-dozen on the fourth, and about eighteen on the fifth
plant. But all these capsules were small, some being empty; the greater
number contained only a single seed, and very rarely more than one.
After this examination the nets were taken off, and the bees immediately
carried pollen from one of these almost self-sterile plants to the
other, for no other plants grew near. After a few weeks the ends of the
branches on all five plants became covered with capsules, presenting a
curious contrast with the lower and naked parts of the same long
branches. These five plants therefore inherited almost exactly the same
sexual constitution as their parents; and without doubt a self-sterile
race of Mignonette could have been easily established.
Reseda lutea.
Plants of this species were raised from seeds gathered from a group of
wild plants growing at no great distance from my garden.
Pages:
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487