262 GENERAL NOTES 



Miss M. H. Mason, published in the Journal of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, Vol. XXXIX, Part I, may be re- 

 ferred 10. Miss Mason there alludes to the variation in 

 colour of Bah } ana, Felicia^ Haemanthus and others. As 

 regards Agapanthus, she says, '' Our blue Agapanthus is 

 an instance of varying shade but not of colour. Near 

 Umtata it grows on the precipices above the river an 

 enormous size and the same blue as we see here. This 

 is the usual colour. But at Kokstad T have found it 

 rather smaller in size, and of all shades, from the very 

 darkest blue to the palest grey, though not white.*' 



In all instances there appears to be a gradation in 

 shading, so that a final change to some other colour is 

 ,not quite unexpected. 



The white form of Agapanthus unidellatiis is generally 

 regarded as being distinct from the blue form, but T 

 think the following history of a plant will show that they 

 are identical and that the colour changes from blue to 

 white and vice versa without intermediate shades : — 



In 1910 a neighbour of mine gave me a root of the blue 

 Agapantlius, taken from a plant growing on his stoep, 

 and which I had frequently admired on account of its 

 fine colour. This root was planted by me in a tin in soil 

 well enriched. The second year from planting the plant 

 bore flowers the same colour as the parent. After this, 

 in the third year, I split up the plant, and planted roots 

 in the garden, retaining, however, a piece which was 

 planted in a fresh tin in similar soil. All these plants 

 bloomed in due course, bearing blue flowers. 



In 191.5 the plant in the tin, to my surprise, out of 

 five umbels, bore one the flowers of which were pure 

 vrhite, the others being of the original blue colour. This 

 I regarded as a '' sport." 



In 1010 the same plant, wiiich had been left undis- 

 turbed, bore 4 umbels, 2 blue and 2 white. 



In 1917 the plant bore 3 umbels, all white. 



I^p to tliis time the tin had been standing on bricks, and 

 the roots were therefore confined to the tin. Shortlv 



