Abstract
The writers successfully brought up polyploid plants of L. inflata Linn. by the treatment with colchicine in 1948, and the plants were cultivated in the successive two years. The results of morphological investigations and chemical analyses of the plants are summarized as follows:-
1) The results of morphological investigations are shown in Tables I, II, III, IV, V and VI. Stomata, pollen grains cotyledons, and leaves of the tetraploid plants are larger in size as compared with the diploid.
2) Leaves of tetraploid plants are larger in thickness, darker in colour, and more rounded As in shape as compared with the diploid.
3) As to the height of the plants, there was no recognizable difference between the two. As to the weight, the tetraploid plants were not lighter than the diploid.
4) The results of chemical analyses are shown in Table VII. The content of total alkaloids in the tetraploid plants was distinctly about twice as much as that of the diploid.
5) It is noteworthy that the results of these studies suggest the possibility of practical application of artificial chromosome doubling to the breeding of medicinal plants.
