ON THE WATSONIA 



one that produced a crimson progeny finds ready 

 explanation when we reflect that yellow is com- 

 monly formed by the blending of the pigments 

 red and green, and that white is probably due to 

 the blending of yellow and blue. The combination 

 of the yellow flower and the white one may thus 

 be supposed to have re-segregated the colors in 

 such a way that yellow and blue were grouped to 

 form white which was in turn submerged as a 

 recessive factor when coupled with red; the result 

 being that the progeny were all outwardly red. 



In a similar way may be explained the result 

 of combining the orange daisy with the white 

 daisy; and in general the multiplex presentation 

 of reds and pinks and yellows and whites in the 

 hybrids of poppies and roses and gladioli and 

 dahlias. 



The fact that blue so seldom appears is 

 explained by the assumption that it was the first 

 color to be developed, after green itself, and hence 

 that it is recessive to all the other colors. When 

 a blue is brought out as in the case of my blue 

 poppy, it is unearthed, as it were, with difficulty, 

 and represents the bringing forth of a quality that 

 has been submerged from time immemorial. 



Of course there are numerous flowers — 

 although as we have seen they are relatively rare — 

 that are blue in color. These are races that have 



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