22 Latent and Semi-Latent Characters. 
abnormality too seldom to be of any use, or at any rate 
to be of more than of secondary value, in horticulture. 
On the other hand the eversporting varieties highly con- 
tribute to the diversity among horticultural plants. Nu- 
merous varieties with variegated leaves, with striped or 
double flowers, with double heads amongst the compo- 
sites, belong to this group. The Formae cristatae of many 
ferns, the combs in the flowers of Primula sinensis, Cyc- 
lamen persicum, Begonia etc., the polycephaly of Rapaver, 
the catacorolla of Gloxinia superba, and a series of other 
more or less rare instances may also be adduced. 
It is, obviously, not necessary that all the forms named 
should exist for every pair of antagonistic characters. 
In many cases the intermediate races are absent and in 
J 
others one or two of them. It is, likewise, not necessary 
that the pure type corresponding to a certain intermediate 
race should exist. We can, in such cases, very often 
reconstruct it by the help of analogy. The following 
are instances which will be described more fully later on 
in this part, in which the corresponding constant vari- 
ety is still failing. 
SPKC.BS. HA LF - RACE . 
Tri folium pratense wild four-leaved T. p. guinque folium. 
clover 
Trifolium incarnatum T. i. quadrifolium unknown. 
Ranunculus bulbosus R. b. semiplenus unknown. 
Chrysanthemum inodcrum unknown C. i. plenissimum. 
Chrysanthemum segetum C. s . grandiflorum C. s. plenum. 
Caltha palustris furnishes another instance; it ex- 
hibits in nature a half race with supernumerary petals 
and is represented on the market by a uniformly double 
sterile variety exhibiting petalomany. Camellia japonica 
presents the two types of doubling in different varieties. 
