Final answer:
A recessive trait is one that may be masked by a dominant trait in one generation but can reappear in a later generation when two recessive alleles are inherited. Mendel's experiments with pea plants demonstrated this concept, where white flower color, a recessive trait, was hidden by violet, a dominant trait, but reappeared in future generations.
Step-by-step explanation:
A trait that is masked by another trait but reappears in subsequent generations is known as a recessive trait. Recessive traits can seem to disappear or become latent in one generation if they are paired with a dominant trait, but they can reappear when two copies of the recessive allele are present. A classic example is Mendel's pea plants, where traits like flower color showed a clear pattern of inheritance. White-colored flowers, the recessive trait, reappeared in the progeny of the hybrids when two white alleles were inherited, despite being masked by the violet, dominant allele in the parent generation.
The existence of dominant and recessive alleles explains why offspring sometimes exhibit characteristics that were not physically observed in their parents but perhaps were present in earlier generations. The physical observation of a dominant trait might be due to the organism carrying either two dominant alleles or one dominant and one recessive allele. The observation of a recessive trait, such as dwarfism or white-colored flowers, indicates the absence of the dominant allele for that characteristic.