The genetics ofPapaver commutatum and its hybrids withPapaver Rhoeas

Summary

Two forms ofP. commutatum (2n=14) differing in a group of floral characters are shown to differ by a single factor or by a group of very tightly linked factors.

Strigose hairs are incompletely dominant to patent hairs and are controlled by a single pair of factors which is independent of the factor or factors for the above group of floral characters.

Albinism is recessive and differs from the normal green by a single factor.

Hybrids betweenP. Rhoeas (2n=14, wild and cultivated forms) andP. commutatum are described; the characters ofP. commutatum are mainly dominant or epistatic to those ofP. Rhoeas.

Consideration of the genetics of the two species, their variation and geographic distribution, and the cytology of the hybrids, leads to the conclusion that they have been recently differentiated from a common origin.