Table 5/66. Lactuca sativa.
Heights of plants measured in inches.
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Crossed Plants.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants.
Pot 1 : 27 : 21 4/8.
Pot 1 : 25 : 20.
First generation, planted in open ground.
Pot 2 : 29 4/8 : 24.
Pot 2 : 17 4/8 : 10.
Pot 2 : 12 4/8 : 11.
Second generation, planted in open ground.
Pot 3 : 14 : 9 4/8.
Pot 3 : 10 4/8 : 0.
Second generation, kept in the pot.
Total : 136 : 96.
The average height of the seven crossed plants is 19.43, and that of the six self-fertilised plants 16 inches; or as 100 to 82.
21. Campanulaceae.—Specularia speculum.
In the closely allied genus, Campanula, in which Specularia was formerly included, the anthers shed at an early period their pollen, and this adheres to the collecting hairs which surround the pistil beneath the stigma; so that without some mechanical aid the flowers cannot be fertilised. For instance, I covered up a plant of Campanula carpathica, and it did not produce a single capsule, whilst the surrounding uncovered plants seeded profusely. On the other hand, the present species of Specularia appears to set almost as many capsules when covered up, as when left to the visits of the Diptera, which, as far as I have seen, are the only insects that frequent the flowers. (5/20. It has long been known that another species of the genus, Specularia perfoliata, produces cleistogene as well as perfect flowers, and the former are of course self-fertile.) I did not ascertain whether the naturally crossed and spontaneously self-fertilised capsules contained an equal number of seeds, but a comparison of artificially crossed and self-fertilised flowers, showed that the former were probably the most productive. It appears that this plant is capable of producing a large number of self-fertilised capsules owing to the petals closing at night, as well as during cold weather. In the act of closing, the margins