146 Retrograde Varieties 



some woods a variety with greenish flowers and 

 bright yellow berries occurs, which is also fre- 

 quently seen in botanic gardens. The anthocyan 

 dye is lacking in both organs, and the same is 

 the case with the stems and the leaves. The 

 lady's laurel or Daphne Mezereum has red co- 

 rollas, purple leaves and red fruits; its white- 

 flowered variety may be distinguished by lack of 

 the red hue in the stems and leaves, and by their 

 beautiful yellow berries. Many other instances 

 could be given, since the loss of color in berries 

 is a very common occurrence, so common that 

 for instance, in the heath-family or Ericaceae, 

 with only a few exceptions, all berry-bearing 

 species have white-fruited varieties. 



The same correlation is observed in the seeds. 

 The white-flowered flax may be seen to yield 

 yellow and not brown seeds as in the blue spe- 

 cies. Many varieties of flowers may be recog- 

 nized by the color of their seeds, as in the pop- 

 pies, stocks and others. Other white-flowered 

 varieties may be distinguished when germinat- 

 ing, their young axes being of a pure instead of 

 a purplish green. It is a test ordinarily used 

 by gardeners, to purify their flower beds long- 

 before the blooming time, when thinning or 

 weeding them. Even in wild plants, as in 

 Erodium, Calluna, Brunella and others, a bot- 

 anist may recognize the rare white-flowered 



