ANNUAL FLOWERS. 



187 



coloured, and of various colours, and I am quite sure the seeds of these 

 plants will be dark, not white, as the seed was from which they grew.* 

 The same thing occurred with the 1 Primrose Spencer,' introduced also 

 from America, and both had 40 to 50 per cent, of hooded flowers in 

 addition. This shows that the Spencer type so far is sporting quite as 

 much in America as in England. It is curious, not to say mysterious, 



Fig. 30.— Amaranthus caudatus — old and selected forms. 



and so far I do not understand it ; one cannot discover the colour nor the 

 germ of colour in the white seed, nor the whiteness in the coloured seed, 

 nor, I am sorry to say, the cause of it, otherwise it could be prevented aud 

 guarded against. 



* Since this was written the opportunity for examining the seeds of these plants 

 with coloured flowers has occurred, and all are found to have produced coloured at 

 dark seeds. 



