84 Flowers and their Pedis^rccs. 



cquall\- early blossoms of the buttercup, which simi- 

 larly form the starting point of another great and 

 varied family. OriginalK-, there is good reason for 

 believing, all flowers were of this same bright golden 

 yellow hue ; and those of them that have since pro- 

 gressed to other colours, under stress of special insect 

 selection, have passed through regular gradations of 

 white, pink, red, crimson, purple, and finally blue. 

 Some flowers still remain at the ancestral yellow 

 stage ; others have got on as far as white or pink ; 

 yet others have attained the stage of crimson or 

 purple ; and a verj' few, the most advanced of all, 

 have even reached the culminating glorj' of deep 

 blue. 



We have several other yellow potcntillas in 

 England besides the cinquefoil, and some of these 

 have varied a good deal in foliage or other points 

 from the central form. iS'earest of all to it stands the 

 small tormcntil, so frequent upon heaths or other 

 moors and uplands ; for the main distinction between 

 them lies in the fact that the cinquefoil has usually 

 five large petals, while the tormentil has usually only 

 four. This difference, however, is by no means always 

 constant, for on the one hand it is easy to find stray 

 flowers of cinquefoil with only four petals, while on 

 the other hand the first flower on each stalk of tor- 



