269 



and although I have raised scores of seedlings from it, they are 

 without exception precisely like their parent, showing no ten- 

 dency to advance to more positive shades, or to return to its 

 primitive scarlet type.'' 



The color of the wild Columbine consisting of a vivid scarlet- 

 red, broken near the mouth of the nectary into a rich, orange 

 hue, the salmon and pale lemon colors of these aberrant forms, 

 afford a singular instance of "nature's freaks." 



Mr. Phippen has succeeded in producing a very sh owy Col- 

 umbine by cross-imjjregnating the native species upon the white 

 garden Columbine (^4. vulgaris), but the result proved that a 

 preponderance of vigor was in favor of the garden species : the hy- 

 brid indicating the contour and type of that, rather than of the 

 paternal plant. Something of the same kind is to be found in 

 Curtis' Botanical Magazine, in which work, under No. 1221 is 

 mentioned and figured a two-colored Columbine (^Aquilegia hy- 

 brida), that "came up inconsiderable numbers among the seed- 

 lings of Aquilegia (Janadensis and may be perhaps a hybrid 

 production between that species and vidgarisy The colors in 

 this plant are of a deep purple and pure white ; in Mr. Phip- 

 pen' s hybrid, they are light reddish-purple and white. The 

 presence of a decidedly strong pubescence on the stems and 

 leaves of the British and Mr. P.'s seedling, indicates that the 

 hybridization in both cases was not very perfect. 



A second, wild, native variety having pure, white blossoms, 

 was some years since, detected by Mr. Abraham Bosson, and 

 like the other, was found among the usual scarlet sorts. This 

 singular freak was unfortunately lost, after growing two or 

 three years in Mr. B.'s garden. The precise locality of its 

 origin is forgotten. 



The wild Columbine thrives well under cultivation and com- 

 pares in the garden with the more favored sorts. Mr. Joshua 

 Phippen, (brother of Mr. G. D. Phippen) has been so fortunate 

 as to raise two or three plants of a third variety, a double kind. 

 This curious freak is a veritable double monstrosity, each 

 nectary containing a duplicate, while the petals and stamens 



