Stripes are by no means limited to flowers. They may affect the whole
foliage, or the fruits and the seeds, and even the roots. But all such
cases occur much more rarely than the striped flowers. An interesting
instance of striped roots is afforded by radishes. White and red
varieties of different shapes are cultivated. Besides them sometimes a
curious motley sort may be seen in the markets, which is white with red
spots, which are few and narrow in some samples, and more numerous and
broader in others. But what is very peculiar and striking is the
circumstance, that these stripes do not extend in a longitudinal, but in
a transverse direction. Obviously this must be the effect of the very
notable growth in thickness. Assuming that the colored regions were
small in the beginning, they must have been drawn out during the process
of thickening of the root, and changed into transverse lines. Rarely a
streak may have had its greatest extension in a transverse direction
from the beginning, in which case it would only be broadened and not
definitely changed in its direction.
This variety being a very fine one, and more agreeable to the eye than
the uniform colors, is [326] being more largely cultivated in some
countries. It has one great drawback: it never comes wholly true from
seed.
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