Final answer:
Mendel's easy observation of traits in pea plants was enabled by their few distinguishing traits, short life cycles, and small size.
Step-by-step explanation:
The characteristic of pea plants that most enabled Mendel to easily observe the traits inherited by many successive generations and different crosses was their few distinguishing traits. Pea plants have a limited number of easily observable traits, such as flower color, seed shape, and pea pod shape, which allowed Mendel to track their inheritance patterns accurately. By studying these traits, Mendel established the principles of inheritance and developed his laws of genetics.
Moreover, pea plants have short life cycles. They go from seed to mature plant and produce seeds for the next generation relatively quickly, allowing Mendel to conduct multiple generations of experiments within a short period. This rapid lifecycle facilitated the observation of traits across many successive generations of pea plants.
Finally, pea plants have a relatively small size compared to other plants, which made them easy to cultivate and manipulate in controlled environments. This made it easier for Mendel to perform crosses between different pea plants to study the inheritance of traits and observe the outcomes of these crosses.
Learn more about Pea plants and Mendel's observation of traits