64 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



been missed. If this is true of 150 varieties then how is it with 

 the party who advertises 1,200 varieties and then has the au- 

 dacity to say 'all good ones' " 



Yellow^ Fruits. — One is warranted in expecting yellow- 

 fruited forms of all fruits that are normally red, just as he is 

 justified in expecting white-flowered forms from those with 

 ordinarily blue or red blossoms. The occurrence is a sort of 

 recession on the part of the plants and appears to be due to 

 a lack of the determiner that causes the deeper color to develop. 

 Mr. D. J. Talcott writes of finding yellow fruit of the red- 

 berried elder (Smnbiiciis raccniosus) , Vihurniiin opiilus, and 

 Actaca rubra and notes that the golden queen raspberry is a 

 sport from the cuthbert red. To this list the writer can add 

 yellow^ fruited holly {Ilex opaca) and winterberry (Ilex ver- 

 ticillata) and yellow tomatoes are common. It would be 

 interesting to make a complete list of the fruits of this kind 

 and we shall be glad to note any other instances that may be 

 called to our attention. Black fiuits may sometimes have 

 red-fruited forms, but it is usual for fruits of this color to 

 produce white forms. AAdiite blackberries, white or pink blue- 

 berries, and other white fruits are well known. 



Variation in the Rate of Evolution. — A great deal 

 of botany at present becomes a subject for elucidation by the 

 philosopher. It no longer is thought to be mere chance that 

 determines whether a given plant family shall number trees 

 among its species, or consist only of herbs. It has been pointed 

 out by E. W. Sinnott in an address before the Botanical So- 

 ciety of America, that the rate of evolution must be very dif- 

 ferent in trees and herbs. Herbs with the very brief period 

 from seed to ^eed are able to accumulate changes much more 

 quickly than can the slower growing trees and shrubs. New 

 species, and even new genera, therefore, arise more quickly 

 among the herbs, and yet. while these plants often have nu- 

 merous species in the genus the woody plants are said to out- 



