Miniature plants.

Miniature plants were found in 1944 at the Agricultural Experiment Station, Knoxville, Tennessee, in progenies which previously had been once or twice selfed. One of these was in an S₁ from the white variety, Huffman, from Tennessee. The other was in an S₂ from the Franklin yellow dent variety from Oklahoma. The parents had not been grown in the same season so that there was no possible opportunity for intercrossing. Both miniatures were propagated by selfing and/or crossing. In 1945 the white miniature was crossed with a plant heterozygous for the yellow miniature. This cross segregated in 1946 into a close approximation of 1 to 1. Crosses between the yellow miniature and white miniature made in 1946 were completely miniature in 1947.

The character is not workable because it cannot be classified with any degree of certainty in smaller‑growing plants. It seemed of interest, however, to note this instance of a mutation at a specific locus arising in two completely unrelated stocks and then being found in the same field in a single season. It is not certain that the mutations were to the same allele, but, if different, these cannot be distinguished phenotypically in segregating material.

F. D. Richey