In respect to the variability, the variety belongs to
the ever-sporting group, constituting a type which is more closely
related to the "five-leaved" clover than to the striped flowers or even
the double stocks.
It fluctuates around an average type with half filled crowns, going as
far as possible in both directions, but never transgressing either
limit. It is even doubtful whether the presumable limits are, under
ordinary circumstances, ever reached. Obviously one extreme would be the
conversion of all the stamens, and the other the absolute deficiency of
any marked tendency to such a change. Both may occur, and will probably
be met with from time to time. But they must be extremely rare, since in
my own extensive experiments, which were strictly controlled, I never
was able to find a single instance of either of them. Some of the outer
stamens have always remained unchanged, yielding enough pollen for the
artificial pollination of [375] the central ovary, and on the other hand
some rudiments of hardened filaments were always left, even if they were
reduced to small protuberances on the thalamus of the flower. Between
these extremes all grades occur. From single, partially or wholly
changed stamens upwards to 150 and over, all steps may be seen. It is a
true fluctuating variability.
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