Colors Among Flowers

Yellow and white. Botanists are agreed that the earliest petals were yellow, and that, originally, all flowers were of that color. The order of development of color in flowers appears to be yellow, pink, red, purple, lilac, up to deep blue–probably the highest level–while white may occur in an normally colored flower, just as albinos are found among animals. As flowers become more specialized they become more dependent upon the visits of special insects, purple and blue flowers, for instance, benefitting most from and being most preferred by bees and butterflies. A French authority states that about 4,200 species of plants are utilized for various purposes in Europe. Of these only about one-tenth have an agreeable perfume, the other being either inodorous or having an unpleasant smell. White flowers are the most numerous. One thousand one hundred and twenty-four species out of 4,200 are white, and 187 of these have a scent; 931 (77 perfumed) are yellow; next in order comes red, with 823, of which 84 give forth perfume; then blue, 594 (34 scented), and violet, 308, only 13 of which have any perfume. The remaining 400 kinds are of various shades of color, and only 28 of them have a pleasant smell.–Boston Standard.