Flexi Says: Mendel carried out identical studies of several visible characteristics over three generations of pea plants, (P, F1, and F2) and found in each case that one trait “disappeared” in the F1 generation, only to reappear in the F2 generation. Mendel studied a large number of plants and used statistics to demonstrate the repeated 3:1 ratio of traits. Because of the repeatable nature of his findings, Mendel was confident that the ratios of different traits in the F2 generation were representative. Mendel called the trait that appeared in the F2 75% of the time the dominant trait, and the trait that reappeared in the F2 the recessive trait. Mendel’s results showed that there was no blending of traits. For example, when Mendel crossed two different height plants; a tall plant and a short plant had offspring that were either tall or short but not medium in height.
