LUTHER BURBANK 



which are also blue, and of the trailing myrtle, 

 the characteristic blue flowers of which are some- 

 times modified to crimson and to white. 



The gillias may show in the same patch 

 flowers of the deepest crimson, others that are 

 pale rosy crimson, yet others that are pink, and 

 numerous ones that are pure white. 



These examples of variation in different 

 flowers of the same species may be supplemented 

 by mention of the curious flower known as cyno- 

 glossum, of the borage family, the flowers of which 

 are blue in color until they are fertilized, then 

 becoming deep red. Somewhat similar are the 

 color changes of one of my new varieties of poppy, 

 which vary from day to day. And this phenome- 

 non of changing color while still retaining fresh- 

 ness may be linked with the observation that 

 nearly all flowers change in color after they pass 

 maturity, losing their brilliancy as they wither, 

 and ultimately taking on altogether modified hues. 



With these illustrative cases of the varied 

 coloration of flowers in mind — and of course the 

 list might be extended indefinitely — ^it no longer 

 seems strange that our orange and white African 

 daisies have the potentialities of a pink daisy in 

 their hereditary strains. There is every reason to 

 suppose that the two African daisies are descended 

 from the same original form. It is probable that 



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