THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 29 



which show 133' man3^ signs that they are the transformed 

 and deformed essential organs. It is perhaps for this rea- 

 son that the botanist has no special fondness for double 

 flowers. 



Most wild plants occasionally show examples of 

 partial doubling, and it was from such sources that the 

 gardener obtained his first hint of double flowers. The 

 water lih' is a noteworthy illustration of this showing in 

 ever}' blossom a complete gradation from petals through 

 organs that are half petal and half stamen to the true 

 stamens. The hepatica and rue anemone sometimes have 

 one or more whorls of extra petals while the yellow pond 

 lily {Nuphar) and the purple clematis {Atragene) usually 

 have several rows of short petal-like scales at the base 

 of the stamens. From facts such as these Grant Allen 

 formulated the theorj^ that all petals were originally de- 

 rived from stamens, though the more natural inference 

 would be that the^' were derived directh^ from leaves. 



Nearly everj^ color known finds its counterpart in the 

 petals of flowers. The most common are 3^ellow and 

 white, while red, blue and violet are less plentiful in the or- 

 der named. While this is true for plants as a whole, there 

 are also seasonal variations. In the North Temperate 

 Zone, at least, earh^ spring and late autumn have the 

 greatest proportion of blues, while mid-summer is given 

 over to 3'ellow, orange and red. It has been attempted, 

 with considerable success, to shov^ that there has been an 

 evolution of color. The more primitive forms of flowers 

 are nearly alwaj- s 3'ellow or v^rhite and the most special- 

 ized, blue and violet with orange and red flowers between- 

 Some striking instances which are taken to indicate this 

 evolution are found in white flowers which fade toward 

 the next higher color (pink) as in the white trillium and 

 certain evening primroses ; while the flower buds of white 

 flowers are often pink tinged as in the apple and the wind- 

 flower. Again, blue flowers often have pink buds as the 

 lungwort (Mertensia) . It is found, too, that in all flowers 

 having more than one color, the more primitive color is 



