FROM WILD TO GARDEN FLOWERS 



349 



COMMON GARDEN GERANIUM 



Fig. 5. Through cross-fertilization and selection, geraniums 

 have come to assume many forms and many colors. This lovely 

 specimen was of a deep red or rich carmine. 



general, no other genus than the genus Rosa offers bet- 

 ter material for the purpose. 



We have in this country quite a number of species of 

 wild roses perhaps as many as twenty in the eastern 

 United States. These species are readily distinguished 

 in their wild state, as the characters of flowers and 

 leaves, and other structures, are very distinctive. One 

 of the best known ones is our common Pasture Rose a 

 photograph of a specimen of which is given in Figure 

 1. Disregarding all parts of this plant save its flowers, 

 it will be noted that the latter possess five heart-shaped 

 petals each, they being of a delicate rose-pink color. 

 The history of the cultivation of wild roses extends far 

 back into the earliest days of antiquity ; and perhaps 

 all civilized nations of history have contributed, more 

 or less, to the production of the hundreds of cultivated 

 or garden species and sub-species now known. 



When thus cultivated, all parts of the plant are modi- 

 fied; but in so far as the wild flower is concerned, the 

 main objects are to obtain an increase or decrease of 

 size ; wide variations in color ; a great increase in the 

 number and form of the petals, with some changes in 

 other parts ; and, finally, a more or less powerful en- 

 hancement of the original fragrance. As cultivation pro- 



ceeds, a proliferation of the petals usually at the ex- 

 pense of the stamens takes place, and as a result we 

 have, among hundreds of other types, such productions 

 as are shown in Figures 3 and 4. 



A beautiful stage in the passage from the wild rose to 

 a cultivated one is presented in Figure 2. Here the 

 petals, of a rich cream color, have not entirely lost their 

 cordate form, while they have advanced to a double tier, 

 as compared with the single one of the wild species. Its 

 fragrance is powerful, and the number of stamens is 

 still great. Whoever is responsible for the production 

 of this variety may possibly be able to give an account 

 of its evolvement from the wild form ; but on the other 

 hand, of the hundreds of varieties now known to the 

 rosarian, the parentage of only a few can be stated with 

 certainty. And, were the rose shown in Figure 2 to be 

 returned to nature, there can be no question but that in a 

 few years its descendants could scarcely be distinguished 

 from the wild species from which it was derived. 



As before stated, the cultivator of roses must use his 

 head as well as his hands in producing new forms or 

 varieties, as no progress will be made if it be otherwise. 

 There is much literature extant on the cultivation of this 

 genus of flowers, and a certain kind of classification ex- 

 ists in regard to thein. In fact, cultivated roses have 

 been relegated to certain classes, as the climbing roses, 

 the single-season bloomers, the autunm roses or hybrid 

 perpetuals, and the continual bloomers. There are many 



WILD GKRAXiUMS 



Fig. 6. The flower here shown is an unusually perfect specimen 

 of the eastern form of the wild geranmm or crane's bill ; its pet- 

 als are of a light purple, and the species gets its name from the 

 fancied resemblance of its long, fruit-bearing beak to the bill of 

 a crane. 



