ON THE WATSONIA 



We have naturally had occasion, in recent 

 chapters, to pay more attention to the matter of 

 color than to any other single flower quality. For 

 it might almost be said that flowers have been 

 developed for color alone. A certain amount of 

 attention has been given to modifying their forms 

 but this has always been subordinated to the ques- 

 tion of modifying their colors. 



If attempts have been made to increase the 

 size of the flower, and to multiply its petals, the 

 central thought has been to produce a more strik- 

 ing color display. In exceptional cases, notably 

 that of the orchid, anomalies of form add greatly 

 to the interest with which a flower is regarded; 

 but even with the orchids, it is unquestionably the 

 delicate beauty of the coloration, and not merely 

 the grotesqueness of form, that gives the flower 

 popularity. 



From the standpoint of the plant experimenter, 

 the question of color in the flower is one that has 

 perennial interest. In a very large number of 

 cases new varieties are developed solely along the 

 lines of color variation. 



We have seen that there are almost endless 

 modifications of color in the same flower, partic- 

 ularly in such variable races as roses and poppies 

 and dahlias, and the case of the Watsonia, which 

 has just come to our attention, illustrates the 



[287] 



