Leaching of a Flower Inhibitor from Late Varieties of Peas

Abstract

Barber and Paton^1,2 concluded from grafting experiments between genetically early and late varieties of garden peas (Pisum sativum) that the dominant Sn gene causing late flowering is responsible for the production of a substance delaying flowering. This inhibitor passes into the plumule from the cotyledons over a period of 10–14 days after germination. Cuttings taken soon after germination usually flower at a lower node than those taken later, or than whole plants. This effect is most marked in short-days, since the delay in flowering produced by the Sn gene is the greater the shorter the photoperiod (Barber and Sprent, unpublished work).