1111 



years ago, where I was then living, several very large Hydrangeas 

 were growing in the open borders of a flower-garden, the soil being 

 of various kinds. One plant, growing in a border of stiff tenacious 

 clay, produced beautiful heads of a bright pink colour, while another 

 by its side had every head of blossoms of a fine blue ; and in the same 

 border was a plant bearing blossoms of pink and blue intermixed, and 

 of as fine a shade of colour as on the separate plants. The other bor- 

 der was a deep surface-soil of peat or bog-earth. The plants were of 

 the same character in this as in the before-named border, and produ- 

 ced the same results, the blossoms being wholly pink, wholly blue, 

 and mixed as before. I have plants here which are growing in clay ; 

 and last summer (1843) they bloomed pink and blue heads distinctly 

 on the same plant. In the autumn of 1842 I took cuttings from plants, 

 the pink and blue separately; in the following spring, when they flow- 

 ered, every head of blossom was pink ; the soil varied from peat to a 

 stiff loam. In the autumn of 184.3 I repeated my experiment, taking 

 my cuttings again distinct, and potting some of them in pure loam, 

 others in peat soil, others in equal parts of loam and leaf soil, others 

 again in equal parts of loam and peat. No difference was percepti- 

 ble this summer in the blossoms of those cuttings taken from plants 

 with pink or blue flowers, with one exception, which was that one 

 of the cuttings from the blue, produced pale blue flowers ; the soil it 

 was grown in was pure loam. A slight tinge of blue appeared in a 

 few of the flowers on other plants, on cuttings taken from the pink 

 kind as well as the other. Such has been the result of careful expe- 

 riments, and I feel satisfied, as a practical cultivator, that the differ- 

 ence of colour in these plants is of a thoroughly sportive character, 

 and will always be attended with uncertain results. For I would ask, 

 if the soil causes the change of colour, why should it appear on the 

 same plant, as well as on a plant when growing in soil of a decidedly 

 opposite nature ? I should be happy to hear of experiments on these 

 plants made by some other conespondents. — Jno. R. Henness ; Dor- 

 king^ September 14, 1 844. 



525. Note on Anagallis c<Brulea. I beg likewise to mention hav- 

 ing succeeded in raising Anagallis caerulea a second time from seeds 

 of A. arvensis. The first time was in 1838, when, wishing to test the 

 two plants as to their being distinct species, I had sown seeds of A. 

 arvensis in a border, from which was produced one plant of caerulea. 

 And again, in the present season, having sown some seed, I have ob- 

 tained the same result ; and I now think with Mr. Grindon (Phytol. 

 130), that A. caerulea is nothing more than a variety of A. arvensis. Id. 



