70 LUTHER BURBANK 



and I have known it to occur with the apple 

 blossom. But it is not very common. 



It is sometimes spoken of as supernumerary 

 doubling, to distinguish it from the usual type in 

 which each new petal takes the place of a stamen. 



In addition to the double white Watsonia, the 

 crossbred colony has presented single white ones 

 that have very much larger and more regular 

 open blossoms than the original forms. Also 

 some that grow on much taller stems, and others 

 on the other hand, that are dwarfed, and of 

 more compact form. All of the newer ones 

 show great improvement over the original forms. 

 If possible, they surpass the original in snowy 

 whiteness, and not only bloom much earlier than 

 the type form, but they are the most persistent 

 bloomers, putting forth flowers almost continu- 

 ously throughout the whole season. 



STRANGE FORMS AND ENTRANCING COLORS 



But even these snow-white members of the 

 colony are surpassed in beauty by some of their 

 associates that show the most remarkable com- 

 binations and blendings of colors. 



The parent forms, as we have seen, are red- 

 dish purple and white, but these blended hybrids 

 present such combinations of colors as I have 

 never seen in any other tribe of flowers except 



