Seasonal order in colours of flowers

ABSTRACT Six years ago the question was brought forward in this journal Vol. xiii. p. 427) whether light has any influence on the colour flowers. I then called attention to the experiments

made by Askenasy in 1875 (_Botanische Zeitung_, 1876, No. 1), from which he inferred that the action of light was different, some flowers being changed by darkness, but others not. Having

myself from time to time studied this subject, I have seen, like other observers, hat several kinds of pigment appear in complete darkness, but that in many of these cases daylight

strengthens the tint and increases the hue. Not only flowers, but also other parts of the plant are thus affected. I found for instance that the shoots of several potatoes grown in the dark

were coloured pink, that a bud of an elder-tree formed under the same circumstances two red-coloured internodes, and that crocuses, tulips, and hyacinths produced coloured flowers, whereas

_Aucuba japonica_ gave redcoloured fruits. It seems from these experiments that the plant is able to produce colouring matter without help from any source of light. But it is an important

fact that the colours formed in he dark and those formed in the light often do not possess the ame beauty. To prove this, I raised a bulb of byacinth with wo buds (or “noses” as they are

called by Dutch florists); one of the two buds was covered by a piece of thick opaque paper to prevent the sun shining upon it, while the other bud was uncovered, and thus could enjoy the

sun's influence. After some weeks the difference was very marked, the covered flowers being less intensively coloured than the others. This way of experimenting gave more striking

results than that proposed by Askenasy, who kept the hyacinths in the dark until the whole inflorescence had opened, then cut off the upper part of the flower stalk with half of the flowers

and exposed it to daylight, while the others remained in their dark place. But he also saw that the latter flowers remained less coloured. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe

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AFFILIATIONS * Amsterdam J. C. COSTERUS Authors * J. C. COSTERUS View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and

permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE COSTERUS, J. Seasonal Order in Colours of Flowers. _Nature_ 25, 481–482 (1882). https://doi.org/10.1038/025481c0 Download citation * Issue

Date: 23 March 1882 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/025481c0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a

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