Every one of
the two hundred forms included in this collective species has its own
type, which it is impossible to express by a single term. Their names
are chosen arbitrarily. Quite the contrary is the case with most of the
varieties, for which one word ordinarily suffices to express the whole
difference.
White varieties of species with red or blue flowers are the most common
instances. If the species has a compound color and if only one of the
constituents is lost, partially colored types arise as in _Agrostemma
Coronaria bicolor_. Or the spots may disappear and the color become
uniform as in _Gentiana punctata concolor_ and the spotless Arum or
_Arum maculatum immaculatum_. Absence of hairs produces forms as
_Biscutella laevigata glabra_; lack of prickles gives the varieties
known as _inermis, as for instance, _Ranunculus arvensis inermis_.
_Cytisus prostratus_ has a variety _ciliata_, and _Solanum Dulcamara_,
or the bitter-sweet, has a variety called _tomentosum_. The curious
monophyllous [126] variety of the strawberry and many other forms will
be discussed later.
To enlarge this list it would only be necessary to extract from a flora,
or from a catalogue of horticultural plants, the names of the varieties
enumerated therein. In nearly every instance, where true varieties and
not elementary species are concerned, a single term expresses the whole
character.
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