PRIMULA CONFERENCE. 



205 



yellow in the colouring of" the flower is a constant character. 

 This is a colour wanting in many of the supposed parents. It 

 should be borne in mind that the flowers of highest quality re- 

 present long-continued and severe selection ; and therefore in an 

 exhibition, or even in the general stock of the cultivator, we do 

 not see the entire character and possibilities of the flower. The 

 seed-bed offers the raiser many that he will simply destroy, 

 because of their nonconformity to rules, and amongst the con- 

 demned will be many of the so-called fancy flowers, that have 

 no body colour, and approximate to the species. It should be 

 remembered too, that all the edged flowers have green edges ; for 

 although classed as green, grey, and white, it is only the relative 

 density of the meal that makes the difference. It has been boldly 

 declared that this green colour is a monstrosity, indicative of a re- 

 turn of the flower to the status of a leaf, but we will defer the serious 

 consideration of that proposal until we see the flower take the 

 form of the leaf in addition to a touch of colour, which, from the 

 florists' point of view, is one of its distinguishing beauties. It 

 would be more reasonable, perhaps, to regard the green colour 

 as a remainder of the original colour of the flower, for, according 

 to the doctrine that has found general acceptance, the flower 

 should be first green and then yellow, with the potentiality of 

 changing to red and ultimately to blue. 



Considering Professor Kerner's proposal in connection with 

 these facts, it may not be irreverent to say that it leads us no- 

 where. We are to derive two groups of plants that differ by 

 larger degrees than many that are recognized as distinct species, 

 from a parent plant that is a reputed hybrid, and that possesses 

 only a few of the characters required. We are assured that the 

 purple and marone colours that are so prominent in the edged 

 Auriculas, cannot be derived from a species known as affording 

 only shades of yellow. Those who make the declaration evidently 

 forget the wide range of colouring of the common Primrose, 

 wherein we have almost every colour except true blue. Linnaeus 

 grouped Primroses, Oxlips, and Polyanthuses as forms of one 

 species ; and that view, though for long repudiated, is now gene- 

 rally accepted, and the point is especially insisted on by Bentham 

 in his " Handbook of the British Flora." Between yellow and blue 

 there may be somewhat of a gulf fixed, especially in the variations 

 of a species ; but from yellow to shades of red and purple is a 



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