THE COLOURS OF ENGLISH FLOWERS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")
Sin,—May I point out a rather strange error in the interesting article on "The Colours of English Flowers" in the Spectator of March 21st ? The writer says : —" Some very bright blue flowers turn pink as they are verging towards decay. This is seen especially in the field forget-me-nots The viper's bugloss, borage, forget- met-not, and alkanet all show it." The fact is diametrically opposed to this statement. Every one of the flowers named is pink or crimson in bud and becomes blue as the blossoms open one by one, beginning from the base of the crowded racemes. The corolla generally fails while still bright blue. In no case is pink or red the sign of fading. May I ask you to print this correction for the sake of those who love the English wild flowers P—I am, Sir, &c., G. DE H. BARNES.
The Baltic, Boachurch.
• [The colour changes of the borage family are not uniform, though the viper's bugloss has reddish-purple buds. The tendency is for the blue to be brightest when in fullest bloom, and in decay to turn to reddish, as may be seen by examining the flowers at the time. The water forget-me-not turns whitish 8.8 it fades.—THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE.]
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