THE EVOLUTION OF SWEET PEA 
RED RIDING-HOOD 
So much interest has this departure of form excited that 
a brief history of its evolution is perhaps worthy of a place 
in this Sweet Pea Review. It is reasonably conclusive that 
Red Ridins; Hood originated from Splendour or Her Majesty stock, 
and that, through some unknown natural law, it began to 
warp by the giving-way of the cell-structure of the standard. 
At first this was but slightly noticeable, just as in the case of 
many of the more highly bred types which show a tendency to 
wander, but usually recover their normal form a following season, 
grown from their own seed. Red Riding-Hood, however, seems to 
have cavorted with fixed determination, step by step, until the 
perfect hooded form of this quaint flower— "The Children's 
Flower"— was reached. Since its discovery, large areas devoted 
each year to its culture have presented flowers uniformly true to 
the type— certainly remarkable from a scientific standpoint, as well 
as interesting to the layman. 
The series of studies in our Frontispiece are made from 
actual bloom development, and show better than can be described 
by words the striking forms this remarkable variety assumed in 
the various stages of its evolution. 
The charm does not vanish 
New York, July 24, 1897. 
RkI) Ru)INg-Hooij. — Tliis variety grows upon one. Like some otiier good 
things, one must acquire a taste for tliem. It has been universally admired in 
niy garden this year, and it is an exponent of the highest type of tile art of 
selection. It is a matter of patience in many cases to select a color or shade, 
but to select up a freak of nature is genius, pure and simple. It is extremely 
fragrant, and has the typical stem, — long and slender, but strong. The wings 
are the deepest ro.se, while the abortive standard is a transparent cream, fused 
like rose. It should have a place in every collection. — The Florists Exchange, 
