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The sex ratio inAsparagus officinalis L. and its artificial modification

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The data show that a lower percentage of staminate plants is due to the lack of a proper amount of volatile oils left in the pollen before pollination.

  2. 2.

    By the use of pollen sprayed with volatile oil the percentage of staminate plants was increased by about 26·1±1.

  3. 3.

    The data show that it is the presence or absence or abundance of volatile oil in the pollen which modifies the normal ratio of staminate and pistillate plants, and not the increase or decrease of water content. If water has any significance in the ratio, it is very small (±4 per cent.).

  4. 4.

    It is possible by this method to increase the percentage of staminate plants over that of pistillate ones, at least in the Mary Washington strain of asparagus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hull Botanical Laboratory, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.

    R. C. Malhotra

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  1. R. C. Malhotra
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Malhotra, R.C. The sex ratio inAsparagus officinalis L. and its artificial modification. Journ. of Gen. 23, 157–172 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03052606

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