To determine the phenotypic ratio of the offspring, let's analyze the phenotypes given in the table systematically.
We need to categorize each genotype into one of the four phenotypes based on the traits for height (T/t) and flower color (P/p):
1. Tall purple (T_P_): This phenotype appears if there is at least one dominant "T" for height and at least one dominant "P" for color.
2. Tall white (T_pp): This phenotype appears if there is at least one dominant "T" for height and two recessive "p" alleles for color.
3. Short purple (ttP_): This phenotype appears if there are two recessive "t" alleles for height and at least one dominant "P" for color.
4. Short white (ttpp): This phenotype appears if there are two recessive "t" alleles for height and two recessive "p" alleles for color.
Now let’s categorize each cell in the table:
[tex]\[
\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
T P & \text{TTPP: tall purple} & \text{TTPp: tall purple} & \text{TtPP: tall purple} & \text{TtPp: tall purple} \\
\hline
T p & \text{TTPp: tall purple} & \text{TTpp: tall white} & \text{TtPp: tall purple} & \text{Ttpp: tall white} \\
\hline
t P & \text{TtPP: tall purple} & \text{TtPp: tall purple} & \text{ttPP: short purple} & \text{ttPp: short purple} \\
\hline
t p & \text{TtPp: tall purple} & \text{Ttpp: tall white} & \text{ttPp: short purple} & \text{ttpp: short white} \\
\hline
\end{array}
\][/tex]
Count each phenotype:
- Tall purple (T_P_): TTPP, TTPp, TtPP, TtPp, TTPp, TtPp, TtPP, TtPp, TtPp (9 cells)
- Tall white (T_pp): TTpp, Ttpp, Ttpp (3 cells)
- Short purple (ttP_): ttPP, ttPp, ttPp (3 cells)
- Short white (ttpp): ttpp (1 cell)
So the phenotypic ratio is calculated as:
- Tall purple: 9
- Tall white: 3
- Short purple: 3
- Short white: 1
Therefore, the expected phenotypic ratio in the offspring is:
[tex]\[ \boxed{9 \text{ tall purple} : 3 \text{ tall white} : 3 \text{ short purple} : 1 \text{ short white}} \][/tex]
This matches option (C):
[tex]\[
\boxed{C. 9 \text{ tall purple} : 3 \text{ tall white} : 3 \text{ short purple} : 1 \text{ short white}}
\][/tex]
