Hildebrand sowed the white hyacinth,
and the white varieties of the larkspur, the stock and the sweet pea.
Hoffman cultivated the white flax and many other varieties and
Hofmeister extended his sowings [161] over thirty years with the white
variety of the yellow foxglove (_Digitalis parviflora_). White-flowered
varieties of perennial garden plants were used in my own experiments. I
bought the plants, flowered them under isolation in the way described
above, gathered the seeds from each individual separately and sowed them
in isolated groups, keeping many hundreds and in some cases above a
thousand plants up to the time of flowering. Among them I found only one
inconstant variety, the white form of the yellow columbine, _Aquilegia
chrysantha_. It evidently belonged to the group of sporting varieties
already referred to. All others came absolutely true to type without any
exception. The species experimented with, were _Campanula persicifolia_,
_Hyssopus officinalis_, _Lobelia syphilitica_, _Lychnis chalcedonica_,
_Polemonium dissectum_, _Salvia sylvestris_ and some others. Tested in
the same way I found the white varieties of the following annual plants
also quite true: _Chrysanthemum coronarium_, _Godetia amoena_, _Linum
usitatissimum_, _Phlox drummondi_, and _Silene Armeria_. To these may be
added the white hemlock stork's-bill (_Erodium cicutarium album_) which
grows very abundantly in some parts of my fatherland, and is easily
recognizable by its pure green leaves and stems, even when not
flowering.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171