42 LETTER II. 



ferent parts ; the two upper petals are larger than 

 the three lower, and stand altogether apart, so as to 

 give the flower the appearance of having two lips. 

 These Pelargoniums are almost entirely natives of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and have hecome as much 

 the favourites of modern florists, as the tulip, the 

 pink, the ranunculus, and the auricula were of their 

 forefathers. And yet they were not originally so very 

 beautiful ; their leaves indeed were always fragrant 

 and their colours gay, but they possessed nothing 

 like the clearness of complexion, the regular features, 

 and the rich variety of colour which characterise 

 the present race. To what are we to attribute this 

 sudden change ? To cultivation ? No doubt to cul- 

 tivation ; but to cultivation of a very peculiar kind, 

 of which our ancestors never dreamed ; we call it 



HYBRIDIZING. 



You are already acquainted with the singular causes 

 which bring about the change of ovules into seeds 

 (see page 8.) ; and you know, that if the pollen does 

 not act upon the stigma, the ovules shrivel up and 

 die prematurely. It has been discovered, that if two 

 plants are very near relations, the pollen of one will 

 act upon the stigma of the other, just as well as if the 

 pollen was produced by the anthers of the plant to 

 which the stigma belongs ; but when the seeds so 

 obtained are sown, they change to plants which are 

 not exactly like either of those from the intermixture 

 of which they sprang, but which bear a strong re- 

 semblance to both. For instance, if you take the 

 pollen of a plant with blue flowers, and place it upon 



