Thompson, A.E.
Rick and Smith reported the occurrence of darkly-pigmented anthers in segregating progenies originating from L. esculentum X L. peruvianum cross. They stated that their knowledge such a condition had not been observed in accessions of L. peruvianum. Shortly before their report was published (Amer. Nat. 87:359-373, 1953) a single plant from University of Illinois Acc. 1225-2 (PI 126946) was found to have dark, brownish-purple colored anthers. Another plant from University of Illinois Acc. 1224-1 (21: 126945) had a brownish-purple pigment restricted to a narrow band along the sutures of the anthers.
A number of crosses were made within L. peruvianum to determine the mode of inheritance. No clear cut data were obtained. All immediate progenies from the various crosses gave segregation for anther pigmentation. Considerable difficulty was experienced in classification as the plants varied considerebly in the intensity and distribution of pigmentation.
Recent correspondence with Dr. Rick indicates that a close resemblance exists between this and their material not only in phenotype but in its inheritance. They have concluded that their material is not monogenic in its inheritance. The same conclusion can be made for the L. peruvianum material.