TNTUODUCTION, XXXV 



Capsules ^vbich, while growing, lie close uiion tlie ground, will often become larger, 

 more succulent, and less readily dehisceut, than those which are not so exiiosed to the 

 moigture of the soil. 



Herbs eaten down by sheep or cattle, or crushed underfoot, or otherwise checked in 

 their growth, or trees or slu'ubs cut down to the ground, if then exposed to favourable 

 circumstances of soil and chmate, will send up luxuriant side-shoots, often so different 

 m the form of their-leavcs, in their ramification and inflorescence, as to be scarcely re- 

 cognizable for the same species. 



Annuals which have germinated in spruig, and flowered without check, will often be 



Tery different hi aspect from individuals of the same species, which, having germinated 



jtiter, are stoj^ped by summer cboughts or the approach of whiter, and only flower the 



lollowmg season upon a second growth. The latter have often been mistaken for per- 

 ennials. 



Hybrids, or crosses between two distinct species, come under the same category of 

 ajiomalous specimens from a kno^\Ti cause. Frequent as they are in gardens, where 



sub- 

 (hci 



they are artificially produced, they are probably rare in nature, altliough on this 



ject there is much diversity of opinion, some believing them to be very frequent, o 



aluiosfdenying theu- existence. Absolute proof of the origin of a plant found wild, is 

 ot course impossible ; but it is pretty generally agreed that the following particulars 

 nuist always co-exist in a iDild hijhrid. It partakes of the characters of its two parents ; 

 It la to be found isolated, or almost isolated, in places where the two parents are abun- 

 dant; if there are two or three, they M-ill generally be dissimilar from each other, one 

 partaking more of one parent, another of the other; it seldom ripens good seed ; it will 

 never be found where one of the parents grows alone. . . , . 



>\ here two supposed species grow together, intermixed with numerous intermediates 

 oearnig good seed, and passing more or less gradually from the one to the other, it 

 ^?ay generally be concluded that the wliolc are mere varieties of one species. The be- 

 giuuer, however, mu^t be very cautious not to set down a specimen as interaiediate 

 oetweeu two species, because it appears to be so in some, even the. most striking cha- 

 actera, such as stature and fohage. . Extrejiie varieties of one species are connected 

 ogether by transitions in all their characters, but these transitions are not all observa- 

 1 f V" 1 ^^^^^ specimens. The obs?ryation of a single intermediate is therefore of 

 *^Ilf ^t ^^* unless it be one link in a long series of intermediate forms, and, when met 

 with, should lead to the search for the other connecting links. 

 , ^. Accidental aberrations from the ordlnaru tape, that is, those of icJdch the cat(se 



These require the more attention, as they may sometimes lead the beginner far astray 

 n His search for the genus, whilst the aberratio 



rations above-mentioned as reducible more or 



~ — ^.wxi lur i^ne genus, whilst the aberrations aoove-meniioueu as rtuuLiuii. uiuiv w. 



less to general laws, affect chiefly tlie distinction of species 



Almost all species with colom-ed flowers are liable to occur occasionally with them 



aU white. 



Many may be found even in a wild state with double flowers, that is, with a multi- 

 plication of petals. 



at a!r''^-%^^^"*^^^ ^^^^ usually conspicuous petals will occasionally appear without any 

 di^^' ^T ^^ ^^^^ fl-^vvers produced at particular seasons, or to all the flowers of m- 



y ual phints, or the petals may bo reduced to narrow slips, 

 flowers usually very u'regular, may, on certain individuals, lose more or less of their 

 T>f^nf u^' ^^' ai^pear in some very diH'erent shape. Spurs, for instance, may dxsap- 

 l ^^ or be produced on all instead of one only of tlie petals. ... 

 part • P^^^V^*^^^ ^^ occasionally added to, or subtracted from, the usual number ot 



pf ^^ ^^^" ^^I'iii whorl, more" especially in regular polypetaious flowers, 

 hen i"* "V^^% moncecious or diipcious may become occasionally hermaphrodite, or 

 thpTf ^ ^^^^^^^ P^^^i^s '""^J produce occasionally unisexual flowers by the abortion ot 

 W^e stamens or of the pistils. • ^ 



aJ^r^'^n^^* ^^ divided where they are usually entire, variegated or spotted where they 

 aW ??^ *'^'*"^ ^^1*^^^» or tlie reverse, must also be classed amongst those accidental 

 cififr ?'" """^'^^''^ ^-lie botanist must always be on his guard agamst inistakmg for spe- 

 Vine ois ting tions. "^ . . 



