LUTHER BURBANK 



given us an abundance of red and yellow and 

 white ones. 



Of course, there may be some underlying rea- 

 son associated with the chemical character of the 

 different pigments that helps to account for the 

 relative scarcity of blue flowers. But, as to this, 

 no one at present has any definite knowledge, for 

 the chemistry of the pigments, and the underlying 

 differences between the pigments of different 

 colors, in the petals of flowers are very little 

 understood. 



But, whatever the explanation, the fact of the 

 scarcity of blue flowers is patent enough. Where 

 a flower has adopted the blue pigment, it may 

 hold to it tenaciously. But, on the other hand, 

 there are thousands of blossoms that show great 

 variation in color, ranging through the various 

 tones of scarlet and crimson and pink and orange 

 and yellow, apparently quite without discrimina- 

 tion, yet avoiding blues of every type. 

 A Blue Poppy 



Conspicuous among the flowers that show this 

 wide range of variation in color, and yet never by 

 any chance have been known to produce a blue 

 flower in the state of nature, is the familiar Poppy. 



So the production of a blue poppy in my gar- 

 dens, through a long series of selective experi- 

 ments, may be considered one of the most striking 



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