VIII 

 MULES OR HYBRIDS 



DIANTHUS, as a genus, is remarkable for the facility one 

 species crosses with another, thus producing hybrids 

 or mules. Every hybrid is of course not a mule in the 

 sense of being sterile. If that were so, it would be an 

 impossibility to secure seeds off Pinks, which undoubtedly 

 have had an admixture of more than one species in the 

 various sections, nor can we certainly admit that the Carna- 

 tions of to-day are the result of breeding from one only 

 species. While the heading of this chapter is " Mules," 

 it therefore must not be understood that all the plants 

 mentioned are necessarily incapable of seed production. 

 Napoleon III., for instance, certainly produces seeds on 

 the Continent, and it is invariably called a Mule Pink. 

 The name dates from the beginning of the eighteenth 

 century, and was the happy inspiration of the botanist 

 Bradley to indicate a new type of plant, the parents of 

 which were stated to be a Carnation and a Sweet 

 William, that was produced in Fairchild's Nursery at 

 Hoxton. It has, however, been shown that pollen of the 

 latter is impotent applied to a Carnation, or in other words, 

 the two do not "cross," and judging from the fact that 

 Dianthus chinensis, a species noteworthy for the facility 

 it crosses with other species, had been introduced shortly 

 previous to the appearance of the new hybrid, and that 

 such hybrids were common afterwards, it may, I think, 

 be safely assumed that a mistake had been made, and 

 58 



