﻿162 
  Retrograde 
  Varieties 
  

  

  bers 
  during 
  five 
  succeeding 
  generations, 
  but 
  was 
  

   never 
  able 
  to 
  find 
  even 
  the 
  slightest 
  indication 
  

   of 
  a 
  reversion 
  to 
  the 
  red 
  prototype. 
  The 
  scar- 
  

   let 
  pimpernel 
  or 
  Anagallis 
  arvensis 
  has 
  a 
  blue 
  

   variety 
  which 
  is 
  absolutely 
  constant. 
  Even 
  in 
  

   Britton 
  and 
  Brown's 
  " 
  Flora," 
  which 
  rarely 
  

   enumerates 
  varieties, 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  as 
  being 
  

   probably 
  a 
  distinct 
  species. 
  Eight 
  hundred 
  

   blooming 
  seedlings 
  were 
  obtained 
  from 
  isolated 
  

   parents, 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  blue 
  color. 
  The 
  New 
  

   Zealand 
  spinage 
  (Tetragonia 
  expansa) 
  has 
  a 
  

   greenish 
  and 
  a 
  brownish 
  variety, 
  the 
  red 
  color 
  

   extending 
  over 
  the 
  whole 
  foliage, 
  including 
  the 
  

   stems 
  and 
  the 
  branches. 
  I 
  have 
  tried 
  both 
  of 
  

   them 
  during 
  several 
  years, 
  and 
  they 
  never 
  

   sported 
  into 
  each 
  other. 
  I 
  raised 
  more 
  than 
  

   5000 
  seedlings, 
  from 
  the 
  different 
  seeds 
  of 
  one 
  

   lot 
  of 
  the 
  green 
  variety 
  in 
  succeeding 
  years, 
  but 
  

   neither 
  those 
  germinating 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  year, 
  nor 
  

   the 
  others 
  coming 
  into 
  activity 
  after 
  two, 
  three 
  

   or 
  four 
  years 
  of 
  repose 
  gave 
  any 
  sign 
  of 
  the 
  

   red 
  color 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  species. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  an 
  old 
  custom 
  to 
  designate 
  intermediate 
  

   forms 
  as 
  hybrids, 
  especially 
  when 
  both 
  the 
  

   types 
  are 
  widely 
  known 
  and 
  the 
  intermediates 
  

   rare. 
  Many 
  persons 
  believe 
  that 
  in 
  doing 
  so, 
  

   they 
  are 
  giving 
  an 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  rarer 
  

   forms. 
  But 
  since 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  hybridism 
  are 
  

   coming 
  to 
  be 
  known 
  we 
  shall 
  have 
  to 
  break 
  with 
  

  

  