A Note From “The Hoe.” Flower Variations

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 98, 19 January 1935, Page 13

A Note From “The Hoe.” Flower Variations

Nearly every gardener has at some time or other noticed a plant which Las produced a flower or leaf, or some other character which is not normal. These peculiar variations are known as “sports,” but just why they occur nobody really knows; they usually appear only in those perennial plants which have been under cultivation for many years, and rarely in annuals, or perennials of recent introduction. It is seldom that the characters exhibited by a “sport” can be perpetuated byi seed, and therefore to propagate such plants, vegetative means such as budding, grafting or cuttings must be resorted to. Most ol the weeping and variegated forms cl trees-and shrubs, and scores of new varieties of flowers have originated as' “sports,” roses, azaleas, chrysanthemums and carnations being particularly prone to this habit. Another peculiar phenomenon takes place in various plants from time to time; the growth is abnormal, tbe usual colouring pigment being replaced by green colouring matter. This condition does not seem to be influenced by soil conditions and can be perpetuated in perennial plants t>y vegetative propagation. although it will not be carried in the seed. Flowers which show this abnormal character are green dahlia, green geum, and green iceland poppy; the latter was particularly interesting in as much as tbe whole of the petals and stamens nad been modified into narrow straplike structures giving tlie flower tbe 1 appearance of a fluffy green ball.