Abstract
In order to inquire into the behavior and characteristics of off-type plants in field populations of “Saitama No. 27”. a preliminary experiment was undertaken. According to the comparative experiment, except for the D strain which contained 88% of tall-type plants of winter habit, no difference could be found in the examined characters between 4 other strains. Common off-types found in “Saitama No. 27” were tall and low plants. Their agronomic characteristics are described, and the differences between the off-type plants found in this variety and in other ones are reported. In tall off-type lines of D strain polygenic variation was found in plant height and date of heading. Basing on the number of days from seeding to booting stage under long day condition, the tall lines were classified into 4 groups. It was found that the later groups tended to exhibit increased plant height and to show later heading in the field in comparison with the earlier groups.
