On the Variegation of Plants, 307 



ever obtain a single plant which promised to produce, or ha3 

 subsequently afforded, either coloured fruit, or coloured leaves, 

 free from variegation. 



When, on the contrary, I have introduced the farina of 

 a black, or purple grape into the blossom of a white one, 

 none of the plants I obtained have ever been variegated • and 

 the colour of the leaves and fruit, which these in the first 

 year afforded, indicated with certainty the colour of 'all the 

 produce of such varieties, in whatever soil cuttings taken 

 from tbem were subsequently planted. But in the varie- 

 gated vines the result has been wholly different j and though 

 the leaves and fruit first produced by some of them con- 

 tained more tingeing matter than any of the coloured kinds, 

 they subsequently produced, even on the same tree, some 

 bunches almost entirely black, others perfectly white, others 

 lead-coloured with stripes of white, and others white with 

 minute black stripes ; and grapes of all the preceding colours 

 are very frequently seen on the same cluster. The leaves 

 are also subject to the same variations, and the colours in 

 them are in some instances confined to the upper, in others 

 to the under surface, and sometimes extend quite through j 

 and both the leaves and fruit of some of the branches hav« 

 become permanently colourless. 



It appears therefore obvious, that the tingfcing matter of 

 variegated grapes, though probably not essentially different 

 from that of others, is differently combined, and' united to 

 the plant ; and as the variegated grape afforded offspring si-* 

 milar to itself, and none similar to other vines, which per- 

 manently afford coloured fruit, it may be confidently in- 

 ferred, that the nature of the union between the tingeing 

 matter and the plants is very essentially different. 



All the variegated plants that I obtained from the farina, 

 of the Aleppo vine, are not only perfectly free from disease 

 and debility of every kind, but many of them possess a more 

 than ordinary degree of "hardiness and vigour j and two of 

 them appear much more capable of affording mature fruit, iu 

 the climate of England, than any now cultivated. Jt is 

 therefore sufficiently evident that the kind of variegation 

 which I have described- is neither the offspring of, nor con- 



U 2 necied 



