GREEN PANSIES 45 
and larkspur, which vary from white, through all 
shades of blue, to purple, pink, and even reds 
never show any trace of yellow. This color limi- 
tation of blossoms was noted by De Candolle early 
in the present century, who classified flowers in 
two series as to their hues. The first, which in- 
cluded the yellow, was called the X ant hie ; the 
second, which omitted the yellow, the Cyanic. 
World - wide fame and a comfortable fortune 
await the florist who shall produce a variety of 
blue rose, tulip, hollyhock, or dahlia, or a yellow 
geranium or larkspur, which all persist in their 
fidelity to their particular color series. And yet 
nature gives us occasional exceptions which, how- 
ever, only serve by their contrast to emphasize the 
universal law. Thus we see the water-lily group 
if we include the two separate orders Nymphcea 
and Nelumbo with blossoms of pink, yellow, and 
blue. The water-lilies of this latter color, allied 
to the Egyptian yellow lotus, which were to be 
seen in the Union Square fountain, New York, 
last summer, were almost lost in the azure of the 
sky which their surrounding waters reflected, and 
yet they clearly had no right to include blue in 
their gamut; purple or red possibly, but not blue. 
But this is not so remarkable an exception as 
we find in the hyacinth, in which the three pri- 
mary colors are to be seen with notable purity 
blues, yellows, and reds and thus with possibili- 
