The tiny blue-eyed Mary flower is often one of the first flowers seen in the spring in some regions of the United States. The flower is normally blue, but sometimes a white or pink flower variation is found. (A) The appearance of blue in the F1 generation of the pink and white cross demonstrates that flower color is not an inherited trait but is determined by the environment.
(B) Flower color depends on stages of flower development, and young flowers are white, advancing to pink and then blue.
(C) Since the F1 and F2 phenotypes of the pink and white cross do not fit the expected genotypic and phenotypic ratios, blue-eyed. Mary must reproduce by vegetative propagation.
(D) Flower color is an inherited trait, and the F1 and F2 phenotypes of the flowers arising from the pink and white cross can best be explained by another gene product that influences the phenotypic expression.