j6 ACTA HORTI BERGIANI. RAND 2. N:0 7. 



pansies are long-spurred 1 ), thus showing their descent from sorae of the long- 

 spurred V. comuta L., V. calcarata L. (or V. strida Dicksons and Co.). 



In respect to colouring, pansies show a far greater variety and wealth 

 than all the parent species, whatever variety of colour a couple of these may 

 present. There is scarcely any colour or shade — with the exception of green 

 which is so unusual a colour for flowers — that is not represented in one 

 variety of pansy or the other. Selfs are white, yellow, red, violet, blue, brown, 

 and black. The colours most difficult of production for the pansy-raisers are 

 pure blue and pure red. There are now, however, blue pansies of several 

 kinds. Clear reds in fiery red and blood red are still a desideratum-). Many- 

 coloured pansies, as is well known, exist of almost innumerable kinds. That 

 which is common to nearly all of them — but is not found in the parent 

 species of the pansy — is the large dark blotch at the base of the three lower 

 petals. These blotches are evidently derived from the dark rays of the wild 

 ancestors of the pansy. 



Whatever variety of colour the pansy may show, one part of the flower 

 is always of the same colour, viz. the so called eye, or that part of the lowest 

 petal which is immediately in front of the entrance to the spur. This eye, 

 called by botanists the honey-guide, is always bright yellow and the same 

 in all pansies, even in Selfs. This yellow spot which is the guiding star to 

 insects for their visiting the flowers — which is of such great importance for 

 the fertilization — seems to have reached such a degree of resistance to all the 

 changes of outer life that it will not give way to anything. 



The same seems to be the case as regards the colour of the spur, 

 as in all pansies which I have had the opportunity of examining — even the 

 pure white, pure yellow, etc., etc., — the spur, at any rate towards the tip, 

 is coloured with violet of a lighter or darker shade 3 ). Why the violet colour 

 so perseveringly remains through all circumstances on this limited spot, it is 

 not an easy thing to explain. It is probable that it serves as a kind of pro- 

 tection for the honey contained in the upper part of the spur. 



Finally let us see what problems are still to be solved by the pansy-raisers 

 in the immediate future. 



Foremost among these we must place the question of making the pansies 

 perennial instead of annual or biennial. A remarkable step in this direction 

 has already been taken by the English and Scotch pansy-raisers, who, with 

 very good results, have used the perennial /'. cormita L. for crossing with 

 garden pansies. Much, however, still remains to be done. Those species of 

 Viola most suitable for pansy hybridization are undoubtedly V. calcarata L. 

 and V. altaica Ker as both have a very powerfully developed perennial stem, 

 have large and beautiful flowers, and can both of them without any difficulty 



') e. g. »Comuta Perfection» and »Ariel». 



2 ) A couple ot the verv latest kinds, viz. »Cardinal» in fiery red, and ^Victoria» in blood 

 red, are very near the mark. 



3 ) Both as regards the colour of the eye and the spur the pansies thus agree witli Viola 

 tricolor L. 



