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in the first place, it breeds true from seeds. A hybrid is supposed to "split up", 

 as the breeder says, and produce in its progeny a certain percentage of plants 

 which resemble the grandparents, or at least one of them. The fact that it ap- 

 parently does not "split up" is no proof, however, that it is not of hybrid 

 origin. For that matter it could be constant through the dominance of certain 

 characters in a certain combination. It could also be that it does split after all, 

 but that the splitting has not been observed, because it has never been raised 

 in quantity under scientific control. However, that may be, there is another 

 "but" which seems to be of a more serious nature. In its native haunts A. 

 atropurpurea is hardly ever found near either of its possible parents. I saw it 

 in the White Mountains, New Hampshire, growing on exposed rocky 

 ledges at about 3000 ft. elevation. Neither of the other two species occurred 

 anywhere in the vicinity for several miles. Well, "that settles it," most people 

 will say; "it is a true species." But, that is not all. There does exist a hybrid 

 between the two species, which first was observed in Europe, where it origi- 

 nated in cultivation. It usually is listed there under the name Aronia flori- 

 bunda, and two varieties of it were distinguished. One, which resembles more 

 closely A. arbutifolia was named var. typica. It is of more vigorous growth 

 than either of its parents and has the densely pubescent leaves and branches of 

 A. arbutifolia, but its fruits are purplish-black. Its leaves color very beauti- 

 fully in the fall. 



The other variety of A. floribunda, which is intermediate between the 

 parents, was named var. glabrescens, because its leaves become glabrous when 

 mature like those of A. melanocarpa. This latter variety is, as far as I can see, 

 indistinguishable from the native American A. atropurpurea. If the two are 

 planted together, it is impossible to say which is which. 



European botanists did not hesitate to identify A. atropurpurea with the 

 hybrid A. floribunda. When speaking of A. floribunda they will simply state: 

 this hybrid has also been found wild, growing naturally within the range of 

 the two species. Now, it is true, of course, that A. atropurpurea grows within 

 the range of the other two, but, that it does not grow between them European 

 botanists have not observed. 



American botanists, on the other hand, refuse to this day to accept hybrid 

 origin for A. atropurpurea. They either do not mention the hybrid at all, or 

 they will say something like this: There may exist hybrid forms which can not 

 be distinguished from A. atropurpurea, but A. atropurpurea is a species. Now, 

 where is the truth? 



It seems as if the hybrid has never been recognized in American nurseries, 

 but it occurs, and, perhaps, just as frequently as in European nurseries. The 

 Morton Arboretum had proof of that. Some 10 years ago we bought from 

 an Eastern nursery 100 plants of Aronia melanocarpa. That is, we bought the 

 plants under that name. What we got, was an excellent line of the two forms' 

 of the hybrid. The plants were supposed to have been raised from seeds of A. 

 melanocarpa. This claim we could not check, but whatever their origin, the 

 fact remained that there were the two very distinct varieties of the hybrid, 

 agreeing perfectly in every character with the descriptions given in European 

 literature. The var. glabrescens was entirely identical with A. atropurpurea 

 of which we had some wild collected plants. The two not only looked alike in 



