Genetic Studies in Spanish Clover, Desmodium sandwicense E. Mey. II. Isolation and Identification of Anthocyanins in Flower Petals1

Anthocyanin pigments in petals of Spanish clover were isolated and identified in order to investigate their relationship to flower color inheritance. Only one kind of anthocyanin, malvidin 3,5‐diglucoside, was found in various color classes. Color variation resulted primarily from quantitative differences of the anthocyanin pigment concentration. Dark purple petals contained about nine times as much anthocyanin as near white forms. The relative concentration of the anthocyanin pigment between the colored and near white flowers was about 5:1. This difference in concentration appeared to be inherited under monogenic control. On two‐dimensional paper chromatograms, five major yellow spots of other flavonoid pigments were observed and they appeared to have secondary role, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in production of narrow color variation of flowers.