The Effects of Cross & Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable KingdomDarwin, Charles
Science
The Effects of Cross & Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom
Darwin, Charles
Fertilization of plants; Plants -- Variation; Pollination
The four crossed plants here average 29.68 inches, and the four
self-fertilised 25.56 in height; or as 100 to 86. The remaining seeds
were sown in a large pot in which a Cineraria had long been growing; and
in this case again the two crossed plants on the one side greatly
exceeded in height the two self-fertilised plants on the opposite side.
The plants in the above four pots from having been kept in the
greenhouse did not produce on this or any other similar occasion many
capsules; but the flowers on the crossed plants when again crossed were
much more productive than the flowers on the self-fertilised plants when
again self-fertilised. These plants after seeding were cut down and kept
in the greenhouse; and in the following year, when grown again, their
relative heights were reversed, as the self-fertilised plants in three
out of the four pots were now taller than and flowered before the
crossed plants.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE SECOND GENERATION.
The fact just given with respect to the growth of the cut-down plants
made me doubtful about my first trial, so I determined to make another
on a larger scale with crossed and self-fertilised seedlings raised from
the crossed and self-fertilised plants of the last generation. Eleven
pairs were raised and grown in competition in the usual manner; and now
the result was different, for the two lots were nearly equal during
their whole growth. It would therefore be superfluous to give a table of
their heights. When fully grown and measured, the crossed averaged
32.47, and the self-fertilised 32.81 inches in height; or as 100 to 101.
There was no great difference in the number of flowers and capsules
produced by the two lots when both were left freely exposed to the
visits of insects.
PLANTS RAISED FROM BRAZILIAN SEED.
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