calyx assuming the form and colour of a monopetal; but the stamens sometimes become detached petals, within an encircling or duly formed monopetal. and thus present a somewhat analogous aspect to that of the double rose, as in the case of the double[1] polyanthus, which has at the same time a perfect calyx. In other cases, as in that of the double Canterbury bell, the double pip occurs sometimes by the formation of an additional pip from the growth that should have produced stamens; the calyx, like that of the double polyanthus, being formed in the usual manner. In this case the flowers are liable to be entirely barren, though a few of the flowers, having still some of the seed producing stamens, and the pistil more or less perfect, produce seeds; many of which, however, never germinate. (See cut 4).
To return to the most beautiful of these elegant monstrosities, the double rose. It may appear curious on a first glance at the subject, that this most attractive of all floral aberrations should have occurred so early in the annals of floriculture as to have been cultivated by the ancient Persians, as well as the Greeks and Romans. This circumstance may, however, be easily accounted for. It is those flowers that have an indefinite number of stamens that display the greatest natural disposition to become double by a number of the superabundant stamens becoming petalets in the process of their transformation from leaf-germs. The rose, therefore, and its allies, having a part of their seed-producing system composed of a great number of stamens, form a family group of flowers which are much more subject to the aberration which diverts a portion of the intended stamens into petalets, than plants which produce flowers with fewer stamens. The frequent occurrence, therefore, of the phenomenon of multiplied petals to which the rose was thus naturally predisposed, caused it, no doubt, to be noticed at a very remote period; and the extreme beauty of the aberration would doubtless lead to the creation of many kinds of devices for its perpetuation, which, not being very difficult, as shown in the case of the moss-rose, double roses naturally became favourite objects of cultivation at a very remote period..png)
In those classes of plants in which the flowers are only furnished with a small and definite number of stamens, the act of becoming double by the aberrant transformation of the stamens into petals necessarily causes the flower to be altogether barren; useless but beautiful pelatets having taken the place of the whole of the seed-producing system. This occurs in many other cases; among which might be cited the double wallflower, which, as producing no seed, can only be perpetuated by cuttings; but, at the same time, it should be stated that from semi-double flowers, in which one or more stamens have escaped transformation, a few fertile seeds may be expected, which are always more or less likely to produce double-flowering plants. The Germans, indeed, appear to have a method of treating the seed of the wallflower and some other plants, either during its growth or afterwards, in some way that gives it a strong tendency to produce double-flowering plants. The double rose, however, produces fertile seed naturally. Only a portion of its numerous stamens having been converted into petals, it still preserves its fertility, the remaining stamens becoming the means of furnishing perfect seeds, though in far more limited numbers than is the case in a single-flowering rose. (See Cut 4.)
Not the least singular circumstance connected with deformed flowers is that their fertile and seemingly healthy and perfect seeds, in most instances produce plants subject to a similar aberration to that of the parent, which looks something like a confirmation of the Darwinian theory—the accidentally produced double rose producing, as a rule, double roses. A certain number, however, of the plants produced from these seeds display a tendency to return to the original and perfect form of the single flower, having only a very small number of their stamens converted into petals. These are semi-double varieties, the seeds of which would doubtless produce a few specimens still less double, and by selecting the seeds of the least double flowers through several generations, the oirginal form of the single flower might doubtless be eventually reproduced. As, however, the first tendency towards original “singleness,” in the shape of a semi-double flower, is deemed a worthless variety by rose-growers, it is immediately destroyed; and so the possibility of causing the plant, in a series of generations, to return to the simple and perfect form of its flowers is never likely to be tested by professed florists.
It is in these elegant deformities, these beautiful monstrosities, that professional florists find both their profit and delight. The trade in the varieties of double roses has indeed become an important branch of commerce, and the same may be said of the double dahlia and many other exquisitely deformed flowers. The production of pleasing floral deformity has indeed become so profitable, when judiciously turned to account by experienced dealers, that it is sought for, by every means, with the greatest avidity. By the careful watching of many thousands of seedlings from some plant of which it is wished to procure a- ↑ It should be remembered that gardeners term those flowers of the primrose tribe double that have the anthers transformed to petals; while those which have the calyx transformed to petals are called double-pipped.
