anthocyan

Updated: May 25, 2025

That such spots and lines are separate units is obvious and is demonstrated by the fact that sometimes spotless varieties occur, which in all other respects have kept the colors of the species. The complexity of the color is equally evident, whenever it is built up of constituents of the anthocyan and of the yellow group.

Hugo de Vries - Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation

It is the cell-sap of the ordinary cell tissue or parenchyma, which is colored by the anthocyan, and for this reason all organs possessing this tissue, may exhibit the color in question. Thus the color is not a character belonging to any single organ or cell, nor is it bound to a morphologic unit; it is a free, physiologic quality. It is not localized, but belongs to the entire plant.

Hugo de Vries - Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation

This constancy is so absolute that the colors of the different organs convey the suggestion, that they are only separate marks of a single character. It is on this suggestion that we must work, as it indicates the cause of the correlation. Once present, the faculty of producing the anthocyan, the color in question, will come into activity wherever and whenever opportunity presents itself.

Hugo de Vries - Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation

So for instance in the Belladonna, a beautiful perennial herb with great shiny black, but very poisonous, fruits. Its flowers are brown, but in some woods a variety with greenish flowers and bright yellow berries occurs, which is also frequently seen in botanic gardens. The anthocyan dye is lacking in both organs, and the same is the case with the stems and the leaves.

Hugo de Vries - Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation

The anthocyan dye is limited to the sap-cavity of the cells, while the yellow and pure orange colors are fixed in special organs of the protoplasm.

Hugo de Vries - Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation