FLOWERS OF APPLES AS AIDS IN IDENTIFYING VABIETIES. 235 



The botanist will not undertake the naming of specimens from one 

 part of a plant alone as a general rule, and the pomologist, whose 

 material is often fully as difficult, should for the purposes of accuracy- 

 be able to refer to the most fully detailed records. That all advance in 

 science is due to greater accuracy is a truism, and pomological science 

 is no exception to this rule. 



The special points considered in this paper are: — 



Flowering season. 

 Size and shape of flowers. 

 Colour of flowers. 

 Sepals. 



Styles and stamens, comparative lengths. 

 Styles, various forms. 



In regard to these characters as a whole we may say that they 

 are less subject to variation than any characters of the fruit, leaf, or 

 wood. Conditions of cultivation have much less effect upon the flower 

 than upon other parts of the tree, and in all cases the observations have 

 been made over a series of three years, and the facts do not therefore 

 relate to one season only, but have been twice confirmed. 



The writer does not wish it to be thought that these characters are 

 in any way new to pomology (except in so far as bud colour is con- 

 cerned), as DuHAMEL DU MoNCEAU has used most of them in his descrip- 

 tions, and Englebrecht in " Deutschlands Apfelsorten " uses the 

 various forms of styles as dried in the fruit as recognition characters. 



Season of Flowering. — It is not necessary to go into detail as to the 

 relative flowering periods, as this matter has lately been dealt with in 

 reference to pollination in this Journal (Journal E.H.S. vol. xxxvii. 

 p. 350), but it will be remembered that very considerable differences 

 occur between the different varieties, and the relative positions of early, 

 mid, and late flowering kinds is on the whole well kept in varying 

 seasons. 



It may be well, however, to direct attention to certain varieties 

 which may be termed successional flowering varieties, in which the 

 flowers expand in succession, thus ensuring that a better chance is 

 given of avoiding a frosty period than with those varieties the flowers of 

 which are nearly all open at the same time. Such " successional " 

 varieties are 'Worcester Pearmain,' 'Cox's Orange Pippin,' 'Annie 

 Elizabeth.' 



Size and Shape of Flowers. — This is an obvious distinction and not 

 of very much value in discriminating between two similar varieties, as, 

 generally speaking, the size of the flower is correlated with that of the 

 fruit. The shapes, however, of the petals afford a better ground, and the 

 four most common types are illustrated in fig. 86. The shape of the 

 expanded flower is characteristic, and may be described as cupped or flat. 

 Those that are cupped do not, even at their maturity, lose this form, and 

 representatives are 'Lady Sudeley ' and 'Lane's Prince Albert.' 

 Others open flat, or even in some cases the petal is forced back at less 



