Wellesiek can be credited with the discovery of the cerise factor (ce) in Pisum (2), which affects the pigment of the flower quantitatively (1).
His discovery was quite by chance, however, as he was seeking to replace his sample of the albicans factor (am1) which had been lost in the war (2). He was provided with two samples, one am1 (JI 1858), and the other ce, cr (JI 0021), which are phenotypically similar, short with whitish flowers and marbled seedcoats.
This type of 'lost' history is very interesting to me and is the subject of an article I'm drafting, on the topic of the researchers behind our contemporary understanding of Pisum colour mutations.
In Wellensiek's 1949 paper, I believe he may discuss his experiments and source of his albicans sample in more detail, but I am unable to access this article. If anyone here has access to the following and could please forward me a copy I would be eternally thankful.
Wellensiek, S.J. Pisum-crosses VIII: Two basic genes for flower-colour. Genetica 24, 74–89 (1949).
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01487201
1.Statham CM, Crowden RK, Harborne JB. (1972) Biochemical genetics of pigmentation in Pisum sativum. Phytochemistry 11: 1083–1088
2. Wellensiek, SJ. Pisum-crosses IX: the new flower colour "cerise". Genetica. 1951;25(3-6):525-529.
I looked but couldn't find a free copy on the internet.
This seems crazy to me, because nothing from 1949 should still be under copyright.
Thanks, Steph. It's quite extraordinary; there are genetics papers from the 10s, 20s, and 30s behind a paywall!