GREEN PANSIES 45 



and larkspur, which vary from white, through all 

 shades of blue, to purple, pink, and even reds — 

 never show any trace of yellow. This color limi- 

 tation of blossoms was noted by De Candolle early 

 in the present century, who classified flowers in 

 two series as to their hues. The first, which in- 

 cluded the yellow, was called the Xanthic ; the 

 second, which omitted the yellow, the Cyanic. 



World - wide fame and a comfortable fortune 

 await the florist who shall produce a variety of 

 blue rose, tulip, hollyhock, or dahlia, or a yellow 

 geranium or larkspur, which all persist in their 

 fidelity to their particular color series. And yet 

 nature gives us occasional exceptions which, how- 

 ever, only serve by their contrast to emphasize the 

 universal law. Thus we see the water-lily group 

 — if we include the two separate orders Nymphcsa 

 and Nelumbo — with blossoms of pink, yellow, and 

 blue. The water-lilies of this latter color, allied 

 to the Egyptian yellow lotus, which were to be 

 seen in the Union Square fountain. New York, 

 last summer, were almost lost in the azure of the 

 sky which their surrounding waters reflected, and 

 yet they clearly had no right to include blue in 

 their gamut; purple or red possibly, but not blue. 



But this is not so remarkable an exception as 

 we find in the hyacinth, in which the three pri- 

 mary colors are to be seen with notable purity — 

 blues, yellows, and reds — and thus with possibili- 



