Abstract
I HARDLY think it probable that you will be able to spare your valuable space for my communication; nevertheless, I venture to send you the following observations on the tendency of flowers to revert in colour when blooming out of season. We have had little frost here, and many flowers which are ordinarily out of bloom at this season still persist. The changes, however, in their normal colours are in some cases very remarkable. The red cactus dahlias are blooming almost orange, the outer florets being often nearly yellow. These dahlias are also, in many cases, showing a tendency to revert to the single form. A species of tropeolum, normally vivid scarlet, is blooming in a cool greenhouse, where air is kept on, and has in some cases reverted almost to clear yellow; a streak of red down the centre of the petal being the only remains of its normal colour. In both the above cases I note that the edges of the petals are the first to change. A species of myosotis, ordinarily of a deep and very vivid blue, is flowering now a clear rosy pink, without the least tinge of blue. The flowers are well opened and normal in size. Lastly, a pure white phlox of dwarf habit shows a tendency to revert in some of its blooms, though not in all, to a greenish yellow hue. Such cases are probably common; but it is with the feeling that they may point to climatic conditions as influencing the coloration of flowers, and as having, possibly, borne a large part in the gradual evolution of their respective tints, that I venture to record them.
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HUGHES-GIBB, E. The Colours of Flowers Blooming Out of Season. Nature 57, 100 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/057100d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/057100d0
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