Meanings of exceeded the self in English

On the other hand, they exceeded the self-fertilised in height in a slightly greater degree.

At first, however, the crossed seedlings exceeded the self-fertilised by an average of a quarter of an inch.

Crossed and self-fertilised seeds were sown on opposite sides of a pot, and after a time the crossed seedlings slightly exceeded the self-fertilised in height.

These crossed plants, when thus subjected to severe competition, also exceeded the self-fertilised in weight in the ratio of 100 to 37.