130 THE SURVIVAL OP THE UNLIKE. [iV. 



complete neglect, on the part of botanists, of the singu- 

 lar dwarf Limas, which have appeared in very recent 

 years. Remember, now, that Linnaeus regarded the 

 common pole beans and the common bush beans as two 

 distinct species, because one is a running or twining 

 plant and the other is a dwarf erect plant. The Lima 

 bean is a twining plant ; but within the last few years 

 three well-marked types of true bush beans have sprung 

 independently from the old types of Lima. If these 

 differences were worth specific recognition in the com- 

 mon garden beans, why are not the same differences 

 worth at least a passing comment in the Lima bean? 

 Yet, because these types have originated before our eyes, 

 botanists consider them not worth notice, although, at 

 the same moment, they are hoping for the time when 

 they shall see the origination of a new species of plant! 

 But this curious bean evolution has not stopped here. 

 The old Scarlet Runner and White Dutch Runner of 

 our gardens {Phaseolus midtiflorus) have well marked 

 botanical characters in the leaves, inflorescence, pods, 

 beans, and particularly in the roots, which are fleshy 

 and perennial, and in the very tall twining habit. Yet, 

 at the moment when dwarf forms had sprung off the 

 Lima stock — in the same way as the cojnmon bush beans 

 undoubtedly had sprung off the stock of the common 

 pole bean before Linnaeus's time — a bush bean sprung 

 off the stock of the old White Dutch Runner, and this 

 is known in commerce as Barteldes Bush Lima. But 

 this singular bean has other characters than the very 

 dwarf complete bush habit to distinguish it from its 

 parent, for it differs in a smaller inflorescence, in foli- 

 age, and particularly in a remarkable tendency towards 



