COLOR OP PLANTS AND FLOWERS. 41 



be of interest to the Lovers of Flowers, I insert the follow- 

 ing extracts : 



" The curious and striking varieties of color in flowers, 

 their metamorphoses, the delicate pencilling of the veins in 

 many, and the beautiful hues of striped petals, which have 

 from time immemorial attracted the attention even of the 

 listless observer of nature, have of course not been left un- 

 examined by the philosopher of every age ; and although 

 there is sufficient reason to believe that the usual methods 

 of rigorous examination into cause and effect have been 

 applied with all the ingenuity that a love of nature, or an 

 ambition of distinction could suggest, these labors have 

 not yet led to any very satisfactory theory on the subject 

 of the cause of color, and its variation of flowers." 



" Those who are not conversant with raising varieties of 

 Tulips from seed should be informed that what is techni- 

 cally called breaking of a seeding tulip, is the sudden 

 change which takes place one year in the color of the 

 flower ; for instance, from a dull purple it will change to a 

 fine clear white with brilliant red stripes, or from another 

 dull color to a bright yellow with dark stripes, and this 

 bulb, with its progeny of bulbs, if properly managed, will 

 always remain of the same colors. This process often 

 takes six or twelve years, and cannot apparently be fore- 

 seen or accelerated, some never break or change at all. 

 The person who raised or broke the famous tulip Poly- 

 phemus, told the writer that it was nine years before this 

 effect \vas produced." 



" There are also many other curious proceedings of na- 

 ture on this subject, which must have been generally re- 

 marked ; the flower of Cobcea scandens is green the first 

 day and violet the next the Hibiscus mutabilis is white 

 in the morning, pink at noon, and red at night." 



" M. DeCandolle, whose opinion on all subjects relating 

 to the laws of vegetable structure is entitled to the great- 



