74 



HA R D WICKE ' S S CIE NCR - G SSI P. 



stations. A plant with opaque white fruits called 

 snowberry (^Symphoriocarpus) is common iu shrub- 

 beries, and has been introduced from North 

 America. 



Taking Hooker's " Student's Flora "as a standard 

 for our guidance in reference to these colours, it 

 appears that yellow is very rare among fruits. The 

 only examples given are ivy, " rarely," and crab apple, 

 but even in the latter case the hue is not very con- 

 spicuous. Of orange-yellow fruits, there are appar- 

 ently only three, viz. barberry {B. vulgaris), cloud- 

 berry {R, ckaiiur morns), and sea buckthorn [Hippophae 

 rhajitnoides), none of which are widely distributed. 

 A solitary instance of an orange-coloured ovary is 

 furnished by Saxifraga aizoides. In marked contrast 

 to this is the presence of yellow flowers, especially of 

 the large group of ligulate Compositee, which are so 

 abundant in the autumn, of which the sow-thistles 

 aiTd hawkbit are well-known types. In addition to 

 these, buttercups, charlock, and many of the Primu- 

 lacere may be mentioned. 



Crimson appears to be rare both among flowers 

 and fruits. The drooping thistle {Cardiius nutans) 

 is an example of the former, and the berries of honey- 

 suckle of the latter. The only other crimson fruit is 

 the capsule of the spindle-tree (^Euonymns Europeans), 

 with which is associated the curious orange-yellow 

 arillode, which together form such a combination of 

 colour as is probably never seen in any British 

 flower. 



Green is a hue not infrequent with flcnvers, especi- 

 ally such as have petaloid calyxes : but as many of them 

 are inconsiDicuous, they are probably often unnoticed. 

 Examples of these are furnished by black bryony, 

 spurge laurel, many of the spurges (Euphorbiacete), 

 and the more striking green hellebore. Of green, 

 succulent fruits, probably the only kind indigenous 

 to Britain is the srooseberrv. 



Some noteworthy differences also exist between 

 the colours of flowers that produce succulent fruits 

 and those that are succeeded by dry fruits, as capsules, 

 achenes, &c. There does not appear to be any 

 instance of a British edible fruit that is resultant from 

 a blue flower. The large majority of those that are 

 cultivated forms of indigenous stocks, or are edible 

 although truly wild, are produced from white flowers, 

 or that range from white, through pink to purple. 

 Of these may be instanced, apple, cherry, medlar, 

 huckleberry (Vaccinimn Myrtillus) and strawberry 

 tree {Arbutus Unedo). In contrast with this there 

 are whole groups of plants such as campanulas, 

 gentians, and borages, in which blue flowers are 

 frequent, that have only dry fruits, as capsules or 

 nutlets. 



Brilliantly ccjloured seeds arc almost entirely 

 limited to monocotyledons. Of these there are but 

 a few, and probably the following brief list is com- 

 plete. The red ones are crocus and fetid iris. In 

 the latter the rows of brilliant seeds in the glossy, 



green opening capsules form an attractive display of 

 colours. The yellow, but one, Gagca lutca (yellow star 

 of Bethlehem) ; white, but one, the snowdrop ; green, 

 also, one, a dicotyledon,* the yew. Black seeds are 

 much more numerous, and are found in at least six- 

 teen species of monocotyledons, and probably only 

 one dicotyledon, namely the box (Buxus). Most of 

 the black seeds are, however, not succulent. 



The foregoing facts doubtless furnish sufficient 

 evidence to prove that there are strongly-marked 

 contrasts existing between flowers and the parts per- 

 taining to fruits. The reason of this dissimilarity of 

 colouring between two sets of associated organs has 

 been suggested by our editor iu " Flowers : their 

 Origin, Perfumes, &c.,"p. 301. For the two distinct 

 purposes of pollination and of the distribution of 

 seeds, there are required the agencies of two .classes 

 of creatures, namely, insects and birds. It is admitted 

 universally that the brilliant hues of flowers appeal to 

 the colour-sense of insects, and is it not equally 

 reasonable to suppose that another set of contrasting 

 hues may appeal to the colour-sense of birds ? At 

 least it will be admitted that the prevailing tints are 

 so different, that they will be easily distinguished from 

 each other by two classes of creatures whose offices 

 are required by each respectively, and for whose 

 attraction these colours are displayed. 



The matter is also further simplified by the fact 

 that insects are most numerous when flowers are so, 

 and fruits are most abundant in the autumn and 

 Mdnter, when they are so necessary as food for 

 birds. 



A difficulty may suggest itself with reference to 

 black fruits, which scarcely seem adapted to appeal 

 to the colour-sense of birds. It is worthy of note, 

 however, that almost the whole of them are glossy, 

 and the few remaining ones are covered with a deli- 

 cate bloom. Nearly all are ripened before the foliage 

 falls, and thus show in contrast against the grccu 

 leaves of late summer, and the coloured foliage of the 

 autumn. Moreover, nearly all such fruits, which are 

 produced by deciduous and herbaceous plants, perish 

 before the winter, i.e. Rubus, Sambucus, Atropa, and 

 such as persist on evergreens, as ivy and jDrivet, are 

 easily distinguished amongst the green leaves. With 

 reference to scarlet fruits, many of them remain long 

 after the foliage has fallen, and are conspicuous 

 objects amongst the leafless branches. As examples, 

 may be mentioned rowan tree, hawthorn, bittersweet, 

 black bryony {Taiiius communis) and the hips of 

 roses. 



The forementioned facts arc doubtless sufficient 

 to prove that there are strongly-marked contrasts 

 between flowers and the parts pertaining to fruits, and 

 the inference seems fairly legitimate, that they are 

 the results of cflicicnt causes, and are not merely 

 fortuitous coincidences. 



* Taxus "cotyledons, 2 s\\qxU"— Hooker. 



