" In the first case the inheritance of the special
characters through the seeds decides the status of the variety, in the
latter case this point is left wholly out of consideration.
Leaving aside all these different types, we are concerned here only with
the "seed-varieties" of pure origin, or at least with those, that are
supposed to be so. Hybridization and vegetative multiplication of the
hybrids no doubt occur in nature, but they are very rare, when compared
with the ordinary method of propagation by seed. "Seed-varieties" may
further be divided into constant and inconstant ones. The difference is
very essential, but the test is not always easy to apply. Constant
varieties are as sharply defined and as narrowly limited as are the best
wild species, while inconstant types are cultivated chiefly on account
of their wide range of form and color. This diversity is repeated
yearly, even from the purest seed. We will now discuss the constant
seed-varieties, leaving the inconstant and eversporting types to a
subsequent lecture.
In this way we may make an exact inquiry into the departures from the
species which are ordinarily considered to constitute the essential
character of such a constant and pure seed-variety [124] and need only
compare these differences with those that distinguish the elementary
species of one and the same group from each other.
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