51 



a time doubtless when plants did not bear the brijjht colored 

 flowers of the present day ; the}^ were first apetalous and 

 probal)ly as unsiahtly as our j)resent pond weeds ; then 

 long before they had differentiated into the present species 

 or had even beoun to develop petals, there may have been a 

 marked difference in the colors of the essential organs, 

 scales or involucres, in different plants widely dis[)ersed, as 

 is seen at the present day in our apetalous flowers. Take 

 for an illustrative example the oaks, and suppose they 

 should And it for their advantage to have bright colored 

 envelopes for their naked flowers. We find them already 

 varying much in the color of their leaves, scales and 

 stamens; compare the black oak, white oak, live oak, etc., 

 the leaves of one unfolding green, another brick red, another 

 a pinkish purple ; the anthers of white oak simply green, 

 tending to become yellowish, and those of scrub oak a 

 bright scarlet. Would it not seem entirely natural for each 

 species to develop its own special color? and if it should, 

 then the yellow and the scarlet colors which might ai)pear 

 would be contemporaneous, one as primitive as the other. 



Iris has yellow, also purple or violet colored species simi- 

 lar to the Pansy, which has both colors and commonly no 

 red intervening. Our New England Iris versicolor and /. 

 prismatica are violet with some green, and the more south- 

 ern P^uropean and Asiatic species are yellow. 



Suppose one should enquire, Which of the two is the 

 earlier or primitive color? Probably Grant Allen would 

 say, the yellow of course. We would say, however, that it 

 does not follow as a matter of course for these reasons : in 

 our native Iris, the broad green claws of the three outer 

 segments are prettily veined with purple, while the broader 

 blades or tops of the falls are pure, rich violet. We have 

 shown hereinbefore how a purple color often naturally 

 breaks through the chlorophyl green, in leaf or flower as in 

 Cypripedium, Coleus, etc., or may even precede the chloro- 

 phyl green itself, as in purple foliage shrubs, trees, etc. 



