Notwithstanding this, it appears from time to
time and has been seen in different countries and at different periods,
and, what is of great importance for us, in different strains of
carnations. Though sterile, and obviously dying out as often as it
springs into existence, it is nearly two centuries old. It was described
in the beginning of the 18th century by Volckamer, and afterwards by
Jaeger, De Candolle, Weber, Masters, Magnus and many other botanists. I
have had it twice, at different times and from different growers.
So far as I have been able to ascertain reversions of this curious
carnation to normal flowers have not yet been recorded. Such a
modification occurred last summer in my garden on a plant which had not
been divided or layered, but on which the slender branches had [229]
been left on the stem. Some of them remained true to the varietal type
and bore only green spikes. Others reverted wholly or partially to the
production of normal flowers. Some branches bore these only, others had
spikes and flowers on neighboring twigs, and in still other instances
little spikes had been modified in such manner that a more or less well
developed flower was preceded by some part of an ear.
The proof that this retrograde modification was due to the existence of
a character in the latent state was given by the color of the flowers.
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