FLORAL DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN SPECIES AS INFLUENCED BY X-RADIATION OF BUDS

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Abstract
Blossoms developing from plants of Salpiglossis sinuata, Phlox drum-mondii, and Nicotiana tabacum which had been irradiated during the reproductive stage with one medium dose of X-rays showed 10 types of floral anomalies. Salpiglossis buds over 1 cm. long at the time of irradiation usually developed normally. Many of those under 1 cm. in length exhibited various types of irregularities as did those forming from new growth which developed after the plants were treated. Types of anomalies generally appearing during the early part of the blooming period included stippling, spotting, and streaking of the corolla, also color changes; those which more commonly occurred during the middle and latter part of the flowering period were split corolla tubes, dissected margin of corolla lobes, puckered corolla tissue, increase and decrease in number of corolla lobes, and dwarf blossoms. Toward the end of the blooming period, normal blossoms began to appear in increased numbers.