Bud-variation is the last point to be taken up. It seems to be very rare
with stocks, but some instances have been recorded in literature. Darwin
mentions a double stock with a branch bearing single flowers, and other
cases are known to have occurred. But in no instance does the seed of
such a bud-variant seem to have been saved. Occasionally other
reversions also occur. From time to time specimens appear with more
luxurious growth and with divergent instead of erect pods. They are
called, in Erfurt, "generals" on account [339] of their stiff and erect
appearance, and they are marked by more divergent horns crowning the
pods. They are said to produce only a relatively small number of doubles
from their seeds, and even this small number might be due to
fertilization with pollen of their neighbors. I saw some of these
reversionary types; when inspecting the nurseries of Erfurt, but as they
are, as a rule, thrown out before ripening their seed, nothing is
exactly known about their real hereditary qualities.
Much remains to be cleared up, but it seems that one of the best means
to find a way through the bewildering maze of the phenomena of
inheritance, is to make groups of related forms and to draw conclusions
from a comparison of the members of such groups. Such comparisons must
obviously give rise to questions, which in their turn will directly lead
to experimental investigation.
[340]
LECTURE XII
FIVE-LEAVED CLOVER
Every one knows the "four-leaved" clover. It is occasionally found on
lawns, in pastures and by the roadsides. Specimens with five leaflets
may be found now and then in the same place, or on the same plant, but
these are rarer. I have often seen isolated plants with quaternate
leaves, but only rarely have I observed individuals with more than one
such leaf.
The two cases are essentially dissimilar. They may appear to differ but
little morphologically, but from the point of view of heredity they are
quite different. Isolated quaternate leaves are of but little interest,
while the occurrence of many on the same individual indicates a distinct
variety. In making experiments upon this point it is necessary to
transplant the divergent individuals to a garden in order to furnish
them proper cultural conditions and to keep them under constant
observation. When a plant bearing a quaternate leaf is thus transplanted
however, it rarely repeats the [341] anomaly. But when plants with two
or more quaternate leaves on the same individual are chosen it indicates
that it belongs to a definite race, which under suitable conditions may
prove to become very rich in the anomalies in question.
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