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Show 384: BUD-VARIATION CIIAP. XI. v:nioty hardly over changes." 64 I lmvo seen a variety of tho holly, ~ith its leaves having a central yellow patch, which had ovorywhoro partially reverted to tho ordinn.ry foliage, so that on tho same .small bran~h thoro wore many twigs of both kinds. In tho polargomum, and ill some other plants, variegation is generally accompanied by son:o degree of dwarfing, as is well exemplified in tho "Dandy" polargoruum. 'Y11on such dwarf varieties sport back by buds or suckers to . tho ordinary foliage, tho dwarfed stature sometimes stil~ romains. 65 It 1s romarka~lo that plants propagated from branches wluch have reverted fTom variegated to plain loaves or. do not always (or never, as one obso.rvor assor~R) p rfoctly resemble tho original plain-leaved ~lant ~·om wh1ch tho :ar:JOgatod branch arose: it seems that a plant, ill pa~smg by bu~-val'Jatwn from plain loaves to variegated, and back agam from van?gatod ~o plain, is generally in some degree a:lioctod so as to assume a slightly dif-ferent aspect . . Bud-variation by Suclcers, Tubers, and Bulbs.-All tho cases hitherto given of bud-variation in fruits, flowers, lo.avos, and sbo~ts, have boon confined to buds on the stems or branches, w1th tho exceptiOn of a !ow oases incidentally noticed of varying suckers in. tho rose, polai:go.mu~, and chrysanthemum. I will now givo a few illstancos of vanatwn m subterranean buds, tl1at is, by suckers, tubers, and bulbs; not that thoro is any essential difference between buds abov? ~nd beneath t~o. ground. Mr. Salter informs roo that two variegated vanotws of Phlox origmatod as suckers ; but I should not havo thought those worth mentioning, had not 1\fr. Salter found, after repeated trials, that he could not propagate them by" root-joints,'' whereas, tho variegated Tussilago faifara can thus bo safely propagated; 67 but this latter plant .may havo originated as a variegated seedling, which would account for 1ts greater fixedness of character. Tho Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) offprs an analogous case; thoro is a well-known variety with seedless fTuit, which can be propagated by cuttino-s or layers; but suckers always revert to tho common form, which produ~os fruit containing soods.68 My father repeatedly tried this experiment, and always with tho samo result. Turning now to tubers: in tho common Potato (Solamtm tuberosum) a single bud or oyo sometimes varies and produces a now variety; or, occasionally, and this is a much more remarkable circumstance, all tho eyes inn. tuber vary in tho same manner and at tho samo time, so that tho whole tuber assumes a now character. For instance, a single oyo in a tuber of the 64 'Gnrcl. Chron.,' 1844, p. 86. 65 Ibid., 1801, p. 008. 66 Ibid., 1801, p. 433. 'Cottage Gardonor,' 1800, p. 2. 67 1\'I. L moine (quoted in ' Gard. Chron.,' 1 G7, p. 74) l1as lately observed that tho Symp!Jitum with variegated loaves cannot bo propagated by division of tho roots. Ho also found that out of 500 plants of a Phlox with striped flowers, which had been propag~ttcd by rootdivision, only seven or eight produced striped flowers. Sec also, on striJ)Cd Pc· lnrgoniums, 'Gurcl.Chron.' 18G7,p.1000. 6H Anderson's 'Recreations in Agriculture,' vol. v. p. 152, CHAP. XI. BY SUCKERS, TUBERS, AND BULBS. 385 old Forty-fold potulo, which is a purple variety, was observetl 69 to become whHo; this eye was cut out and planted separately, and tho kind has since boon l ar~oly propagated. X~emp's Potato is properly white, but a plant in La~casluro produced two tubers which were rod, and two which wore wluto; tho r?d kind was propagated in tho usual manner by eyes, and kept true to Its now colour, and, being found a more productive variety, soon b.ocamo widely known under the name of 1:ty1or-'s Forty-jold.70 The Old lto1·t~-joltJ. potato, as already stated, is a purple variety; but a plant long cultivated on the same ground produced, not as in the case above given a single white eye, but a whole white tuber, which has since boon pro~agate~ and keeps truo.71 Several cases have boon recortlod of largo portwn~ of whole rows of potatoes slightly changing their charactor.72 Dahha~ proprtgatod by tubers under tho hot climate of St. Domingo vary much; Su .R. Schomburgk gives tho ca. ·o of tho" Butterfly variety,'' which ~~o soconc~ year produced o~ tho same plant" double and single flowers; here wluto petals ~dgod w1th maroon; there of a uniform deep maroon." 73 Mr. Broo al. ·o montwns a plant "which bore two different kinds of self" coloured flowers, as well as a third kind which partook of both colours " beautifully intermixed." 74 Another case is described of a dahlia with purple ~ow.ors which bore a white flower streaked with purplo.7s C?nsidormg how long and extensively many Bulbous plants have been culttvatod, and hov; numerous arc tho varieties produced f1·om seed, those plants have n?t vaned so much by offtiots,-that is, by tho production of now bulb. ,-as might have been expected. With tho Hyacinth a case has boon roc?rdod of a blue .variety which for throe successive years gave offsets wluch pro~uced wh1te fl?wors with a red contre.76 Another hyacinth has been dosonbed 77 as beanng on the same truss a perfectly pink and a perfectly blue flower. Mr. John Scott informs me that in 1862 Imatophyllttm miniatnm in tho Botanic Gardens of Edinbmgh, throw up a sucker which diff~rod from tho normal form, in the loaves being two-ranked instead offoUl'~ ·ankod. 'l'~o le:wcs were also smaller, with the upper surface raised mstead of bomg channelled. r.n tl;~ prol?agation of T~tlips, seedlings arc raised, called selfs or breede1·.~, ~h1~h con.stst of one plam colour on a white or yellow bottom. These, bemg culti vatod on a dry and rather poor soil, become broken or varion-ated " an~ produce new varieties. Tho time that elapses before they break :: vane~ from one t?, twenty yoa~s or more, and sometimes this chango .never takes place. 78 Tho vanous broken or variegated colours which g1ve value to all tulips are due to bud-variation; for although tho 69 'Gnrd Chrrm.,' 1857, p. 602. 7° Ibid., 18..J-l, p. 814. 71 Ibid., 1857, p. G LS. 72 Ibid, 1 57, p. 670. See also Phill. ips. 'II i.-t. of Vegotnhk. ,' vol. ii. p. 91, for otlu·r an,] ~i ruil;t r ncr'nunts. .. iJ · J,llll'llnl of Proc. Liun. Soc.,' vol. 11 B •l;~ny, p. li:l~. i4 Louduu's 'Gu.rd. 1\Iag ,' vol. viii., VOL. I. lil:l2, p. 04. ;s 'Uan.l. Chron.,' 1850, p. 53G; and 18~2 . p. 720. i6 'Des Jacint!Jes,' &c., Amstordu.m, 1768, p. 122. 77 'Gnrd. Chrnn . .' JR45, p 212. 7~ Lout!Oli'::; 'E~tcyclop ot Uan.knin..,.' p . 102-:1:. . o• 2 c |