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JOUBNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



call a reversion, or a distinct and striking break-away from 

 patterns and types sanctioned by the usage of centuries. I 

 know of only one extravagance in the variation of the carnation, 

 and that is the wheat-ear form, in which the scales of the calyx 

 are multiplied so as to give to the aborted flower- stem the appear- 

 ance of a culm of wheat or of the grass known as Cynosurus 

 cristatus. This is really not a variation from the type so much 

 as a multiplication of essential parts, because the scales are to 

 be regarded as undeveloped leaves. But we dare not quarrel 

 with it, for in what, after all, does the '•doubling" of the 

 flower consist, but in a multiplication of essential parts ? The 

 figure of the wheat-ear carnation in Botanical JJagazinc. plate 

 1622, will keep this unique form in remembrance, not to prove 

 hybridation or any flaw in the family pedigree, but to strengthen 

 the conclusion we arrive at from a hasty historical review of the 

 flower, that it is of pure descent from one definite specific form, 

 and we will for present purposes call it Dianthus caryophyllus. 

 John Rea concludes his essay with a bit of rhyme which I copy 

 as a tail-piece to this small gathering of fragments. He says : 



For various colours Tulips most excel, 



And some Anemones do please as well, 



.Ranunculus in richest scarlets shine. 



And Beares ears may with these in beauty join, 



But yet if ask and have were in my power, 



Next to the Bose give me the July-flower. 



PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 

 By Mr. T. Francis Rivers. 



Ttead August 13, 18S9.] 



The order Rosacea?, of which family the peach is a very impor- 

 tant member, comprises a vast number of plants belonging 

 principally to the temperate zones, of immense value to the 

 human race, comprising, as it does, the fruits, apples, pears, 

 plums, cherries, peaches, strawberries, Ac. The peach, although 

 not a fruit of economic industry in this country, derives great 

 value from its singular beauty, size, and delicacy of flavour. The 



