436 The Living Plant 



branch was propagated by grafting and these plants by graft- 

 ing again; and such was the origin of all those favorite lawn 

 trees which we call copper beeches. On an ordinary orange 

 tree, not so many years ago, a single bud produced a branch 

 which bore only seedless fruit, the seedlessness being correlated 

 with the presence of a tiny accessory orange embedded almost 

 wholly in the larger; that branch was grafted, as were the result- 

 ing branches; and this is the origin of the thousands of trees now 

 bearing the navel orange. Nectarines are bud sports from peach 

 trees, and most of our finest varieties of apples, of pears, and of 

 many other fruits have originated in just such a manner. Haw- 

 thorns, Azaleas, Pelargoniums ("Geraniums"), Roses, Carna- 

 tions, and many other plants sport greatly in the color of their 

 flowers; and many of our choicest varieties of these charming 

 plants, including double-flowered forms, came thus into existence, 

 as did many of our cut-leaved trees, variegated plants, and 

 crested oddities. Sometimes the sports take curious directions, 

 as in the case of branches which bear leaves that unfold in the 

 spring several days in advance of any others on the tree. I know 

 a tulip bulb which, year after year, produces flowers highly 

 doubled and accompanied by a colored peduncular bract. This 

 latter case is interesting as marking a transition over to those 

 peculiar structures called monstrosities, which are largely, though 

 not always, sports. Indeed a monstrosity is usually but a sport 

 which strikes us as somewhat abnormal or "queer," such for 

 example as green roses, crested plants, and other "freaks," all of 

 which can be propagated regularly by cuttings. And other 

 sports are known in great number as recorded in the books devoted 

 to horticulture. But as to this, one must not forget that only 

 those sports which appeal to man as useful, attractive, or curious, 

 are likely to receive mention in such books, while innumerable 

 others, which make their appearance but have no interest to man, 

 are left in oblivion. 



Concerning the causes of bud sports we know as little as we do 



