VARIEGATION. 65 



ance of pink and purple petals among flowers which 

 at a casual glance seem scarcely so much modified as 

 the pinks or the crucifers. 



The Malvacece are another family in which lines 

 and stripes commonly occur ; and they are shown to 

 be of a comparatively advanced type by their pecu- 

 liarly modified pistil, and by the union of their 

 stamens into a tube, to which the petals adhere at the 

 base. Lavatera arborea is purplish red \ of our three 



FIG. 24 Flower of pink (Dianthus) ; pink, with lighter spots. 



Malvce, one, M. rotundifolia, is pale blue ; M. syl- 

 vestris is purple ; and M. moschata, rose-coloured, or, 

 rarely, white. All have strongly-marked lines, -and, 

 in addition to this, the vivid green calyx, seen through 

 the interstices of the petals, acts apparently as a 

 supplementary honey-guide. The same peculiarities 

 distinguish the genus Althcea, of which we have two 

 species, A.officinalis, pale rose-colour, and A. hirsuta, 

 purplish blue. 



