A very nice instance of such an analysis of flower-colors is
afforded by the ordinary snapdragon. The beautiful brown red color of
this common garden-plant is composed on one side of yellow elements, on
the other of red units. Of the yellow there are two, one staining the
whole corolla with a light hue, as is to be seen in the pure yellow
variety called _luteum. This form has been produced by the loss of the
whole group of the red constituents. If the yellow tinge is also lost,
there arises a white variety, but this is not absolutely colorless, but
shows the other yellow constituent. This last stains only some small
parts [151] of the lips of the flower around the throat, brightening, as
it seems, the entrance for the visiting insects. In many of the red or
reddish varieties this one yellow patch remains, while the general
yellow hue fails. In the variety called "Brilliant" the yellow ground
makes the red color more shiny, and if it is absent the pure carmine
tinge predominates.
It is readily seen, that in the ordinary form the lips are of a darker
red than the tube. This evident dissimilarity indicates some complexity.
And in fact we have two varieties which exhibit the two causes of this
attribute separately. One of them is called "Delila," and has the red
color limited to the lips, whilst the tube is pure white.
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