22 Latent and Scmi-Latcnt Characters. 



abnormality too seldom to be of any use, or at any rate 

 to be of more than of secondary value, in horticulture. 

 On the other hand the eversporting varieties highly con- 

 tribute to the diversity among horticultural plants. Nu- 

 merous varieties with variegated leaves, with striped or 

 double flowers, with double heads amongst the compo- 

 sites, belong to this group. The Forinae cristatae of many 

 ferns, the combs in the flowers of Primula sinensis, Cyc- 

 lamen persicum, Begonia etc., the polycephaly of Papaver, 

 the catacoroUa of Gloxinia superba, and a series of other 

 more or less rare instances may also be adduced. 



It is, obviously, not necessary that all the forms named 

 should exist for every pair of antagonistic characters. 

 In many cases the intermediate races are absent and in 

 others one or two of them. It is, likewise, not necessary 

 that the pure type corresponding to a certain intermediate 

 race should exist. We can, in such cases, very often 

 reconstruct it by the help of analogy. The following 

 are instances which will be described more fully later on 

 in this part, in which the corresponding constant vari- 

 ety is still failing. 



SPECIES. HALF-RACE. 



EVERSPORTING 

 VARIETY. 



Trifolimn prateiise wild four-leaved T. p. quinqiiefoliuni. 



clover 



Trifoliuni iyicarnatum T. i. quadrifoliuju unknown. 



Ra7iuncuhis bu/hosus R. b. seniiplenus unknown. 



Chrysanthemmn inodcniui unknown C. i. plenisshnmn. 



Chrysanthemum segetum C. s . grandiflormn C.s. plenum. 



Caltha paliistris furnishes another instance; it ex- 

 hibits in nature a half race with supernumerary petals 

 and is represented on the market by a uniformly double 

 sterile variety exhibiting petalomany. Camellia japonica 

 presents the two types of doubling in different varieties. 



