This constancy is so absolute that the colors of the
different organs convey the suggestion, that they are only separate
marks of a single character.
It is on this suggestion that we must work, as it indicates the cause of
the correlation. Once present, the faculty of producing the anthocyan,
the color in question, will come into activity wherever and whenever
opportunity presents itself. It is the cell-sap of the ordinary cell
tissue or parenchyma, which is colored by the anthocyan, and for this
reason all organs possessing this tissue, may exhibit the color in
question.
Thus the color is not a character belonging to any single organ or cell,
nor is it bound to a morphologic unit; it is a free, physiologic
quality. It is not localized, but belongs to the entire plant. If we
wish to assume for its basis material representative particles, these
particles must be supposed to be diffused throughout the whole body of
the plant.
This conception of a physiologic unit as the [145] cause of colors and
other qualities is evidently opposed to the current idea of the cells
and tissues as the morphologic units of the plants. But I do not doubt,
that in the long run it will recommend itself as much to the scientist
as to the breeder. For the breeder, when desiring to keep his varieties
up to their standard, or when breeding to a definite idea, obviously
keeps his standard and his ideal for the whole plant, even if he breeds
only for flowers or for fruit.
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