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Chapter IV
HETEROSTYLED TRIMORPHIC PLANTS.
Lythrum salicaria.
Description of the three forms.
Their power and complex manner of fertilising one another.
Eighteen different unions possible.
Mid-styled form eminently feminine in nature.
Lythrum Graefferi likewise trimorphic.
L. thymifolia dimorphic.
L. Hyssopifolia homostyled.
Nesaea verticillata trimorphic.
Lagerstroemia, nature doubtful.
Oxalis, trimorphic species of.
O. Valdiviana.
O. Regnelli, the illegitimate unions quite barren.
O. speciosa.
O. sensitiva.
Homostyled species of Oxalis.
Pontederia, the one monocotyledonous genus known to include heterostyled
species.
In the previous chapters various heterostyled dimorphic plants have been
described, and now we come to heterostyled trimorphic plants, or those which
present three forms. These have been observed in three families, and consist of
species of Lythrum and of the allied genus Nesaea, of Oxalis and Pontederia. In
their manner of fertilisation these plants offer a more remarkable case than can
be found in any other plant or animal.
Lythrum salicaria.
(FIGURE 4.10. Diagram of the flowers of the three forms of Lythrum salicaria, in
their natural position, with the petals and calyx removed on the near side:
enlarged six times.
Top: Long-styled.
Middle: Mid-styled.
Bottom: Short-styled.
The dotted lines with the arrows show the directions in which pollen must be
carried to each stigma to ensure full fertility.)
The pistil in each form differs from that in either of the other forms, and in
each there are two sets of stamens different in appearance and function. But one
set of stamens in each form corresponds with a set in one of the other two
forms. Altogether this one species includes three females or female organs and
three sets of male organs, all as distinct from one another as if they belonged
to different species; and if smaller functional differences are considered,
there are five distinct sets of males. Two of the three hermaphrodites must
coexist, and pollen must be carried by insects reciprocally from one to the
other, in order that either of the two should be fully fertile; but unless all
three forms coexist, two sets of stamens will be wasted, and the organisation of
the species, as a whole, will be incomplete. On the other hand, when all three
hermaphrodites coexist, and pollen is carried from one to the other, the scheme
is perfect; there is no waste of pollen and no false co-adaptation. In short,
nature has ordained a most complex marriage-arrangement, namely a triple union
between three hermaphrodites,--each hermaphrodite being in its female organ
quite distinct from the other two hermaphrodites and partially distinct in its
male organs, and each furnished with two sets of males.
The three forms may be conveniently called, from the unequal lengths of their
pistils, the LONG-STYLED, MID-STYLED, and SHORT-STYLED. The stamens also are of
unequal lengths, and these may be called the LONGEST, MID-LENGTH, and SHORTEST.
Two sets of stamens of different length are found in each form. The existence of
the three forms was first observed by Vaucher, and subsequently more carefully
by Wirtgen ; but these botanists, not being guided by any theory or even
suspicion of their functional differences, did not perceive some of the most
curious points of difference in their structure. (4/1. Vaucher 'Hist. Phys. des
Plantes d'Europe' tome 2 1841 page 371. Wirtgen "Ueber Lythrum salicaria und
dessen Formen" 'Verhand. des naturhist. Vereins fur preuss. Rheinl.' 5 Jahrgang
1848 S. 7.) I will first briefly describe the three forms by the aid of Figure
4.10, which shows the flowers, six times magnified, in their natural position,
with their petals and calyx on the near side removed.
LONG-STYLED FORM.
This form can be at once recognised by the length of the pistil, which is
(including the ovarium) fully one-third longer than that of the mid-styled, and
more than thrice as long as that of the short-styled form. It is so
disproportionately long, that it projects in the bud through the folded petals.
It stands out considerably beyond the mid-length stamens; its terminal portion
depends a little, but the stigma itself is slightly upturned. The globular
stigma is considerably larger than that of the other two forms, with the
papillae on its surface generally longer. The six mid-length stamens project
about two-thirds the length of the pistil, and correspond in length with the
pistil of the mid-styled form. Such correspondence in this and the two following
forms is generally very close; the difference, where there is any, being usually
in a slight excess of length in the stamens. The six shortest stamens lie
concealed within the calyx; their ends are turned up, and they are graduated in
length, so as to form a double row. The anthers of these stamens are smaller
than those of the mid-length ones. The pollen is of the same yellow colour in
both sets. H. Muller measured the pollen-grain in all three forms, and his
measurements are evidently more trustworthy than those which I formerly made, so
I will give them. (4/2. 'Die Befruchtung der Blumen' 1873 page 193.) The numbers
refer to divisions of the micrometer equalling 1/300 millimetres. The grains,
distended with water, from the mid-length stamens are 7 to 7 1/2, and those from
the shortest stamens 6 to 6 1/2 in diameter, or as 100 to 86. The capsules of
this form contain on an average 93 seeds: how this average was obtained will
presently be explained. As these seeds, when cleaned, seemed larger than those
from the mid-styled or short-styled forms, 100 of them were placed in a good
balance, and by the double method of weighing were found to equal 121 seeds of
the mid-styled or 142 of the short-styled; so that five long-styled seeds very
nearly equal six mid-styled or seven short-styled seeds.
MID-STYLED FORM.
The pistil occupies the position represented in Figure 4.10, with its extremity
considerably upturned, but to a variable degree; the stigma is seated between
the anthers of the longest and the shortest stamens. The six longest stamens
correspond in length with the pistil of the long-styled form; their filaments
are coloured bright pink; the anthers are dark-coloured, but from containing
bright-green pollen and from their early dehiscence they appear emerald-green.
Hence in general appearance these stamens are remarkably dissimilar from the
mid-length stamens of the long-styled form. The six shortest stamens are
enclosed within the calyx, and resemble in all respects the shortest stamens of
the long-styled form; both these sets correspond in length with the short pistil
of the short-styled form. The green pollen-grains of the longest stamens are 9
to 10 in diameter, whilst the yellow grains from the shortest stamens are only
6; or as 100 to 63. But the pollen-grains from different plants appeared to me,
in this case and others, to be in some degree variable in size. The capsules
contain on an average 130 seeds; but perhaps, as we shall see, this is rather
too high an average. The seeds themselves, as before remarked, are smaller than
those of the long-styled form.
SHORT-STYLED FORM.
The pistil is here very short, not one-third of the length of that of the long-
styled form. It is enclosed within the calyx, which, differently from that in
the other two forms, does not enclose any anthers. The end of the pistil is
generally bent upwards at right angles. The six longest stamens, with their pink
filaments and green pollen, resemble the corresponding stamens of the mid-styled
form. But according to H. Muller, their pollen-grains are a little larger,
namely 9 1/2 to 10 1/2, instead of 9 to 10 in diameter. The six mid-length
stamens, with their uncoloured filaments and yellow pollen, resemble in the size
of their pollen-grains and in all other respects the corresponding stamens of
the long-styled form. The difference in diameter between the grains from the two
sets of anthers in the short-styled form is as 100 to 73. The capsules contain
fewer seeds on an average than those of either of the preceding forms, namely
83.5; and the seeds are considerably smaller. In this latter respect, but not in
number, there is a gradation parallel to that in the length of the pistil, the
long-styled having the largest seeds, the mid-styled the next in size, and the
short-styled the smallest.
We thus see that this plant exists under three female forms, which differ in the
length and curvature of the style, in the size and state of the stigma, and in
the number and size of the seed. There are altogether thirty-six males or
stamens, and these can be divided into three sets of a dozen each, differing
from one another in length, curvature, and colour of the filaments--in the size
of the anthers, and especially in the colour and diameter of the pollen-grains.
Each form bears half-a-dozen of one kind of stamens and half-a-dozen of another
kind, but not all three kinds. The three kinds of stamens correspond in length
with the three pistils: the correspondence is always between half of the stamens
in two of the forms with the pistil of the third form. Table 4.a of the
diameters of the pollen-grains, after immersion in water, from both sets of
stamens in all three forms is copied from H. Muller; they are arranged in the
order of their size:--
TABLE 4.a. Lythrum salicaria. Diameters of pollen-grains after immersion in
water.
Column 1: Source of Pollen-grains.
Column 2: Minimum diameter.
Column 3: Maximum diameter.
Longest stamens of short-styled form : 9 1/2 : 10 1/2.
Longest stamens of mid-styled form : 9 : 10.
Mid-length stamens of long-styled form : 7 : 7 1/2.
Mid-length stamens of short-styled form : 7 : 7 1/2.
Shortest stamens of long-styled form : 6 : 6 1/2.
Shortest stamens of mid-styled form : 6 : 6.
We here see that the largest pollen-grains come from the longest stamens, and
the least (smallest) from the shortest; the extreme difference in diameter
between them being as 100 to 60.
The average number of seeds in the three forms was ascertained by counting them
in eight fine selected capsules taken from plants growing wild, and the result
was, as we have seen, for the long-styled (neglecting decimals) 93, mid-styled
130, and short-styled 83. I should not have trusted in these ratios had I not
possessed a number of plants in my garden which, owing to their youth, did not
yield the full complement of seed, but were of the same age and grew under the
same conditions, and were freely visited by bees. I took six fine capsules from
each, and found the average to be for the long-styled 80, for the mid-styled 97,
and for the short-styled 61. Lastly, legitimate unions effected by me between
the three forms gave, as may be seen in the following tables, for the long-
styled an average of 90 seeds, for the mid-styled 117, and for the short-styled
71. So that we have good concurrent evidence of a difference in the average
production of seed by the three forms. To show that the unions effected by me
often produced their full effect and may be trusted, I may state that one mid-
styled capsule yielded 151 good seeds, which is the same number as in the finest
wild capsule which I examined. Some artificially fertilised short- and long-
styled capsules produced a greater number of seeds than was ever observed by me
in wild plants of the same forms, but then I did not examine many of the latter.
This plant, I may add, offers a remarkable instance, how profoundly ignorant we
are of the life-conditions of a species. Naturally it grows "in wet ditches,
watery places, and especially on the banks of streams," and though it produces
so many minute seeds, it never spreads on the adjoining land; yet, when planted
in my garden, on clayey soil lying over chalk, and which is so dry that a rush
cannot be found, it thrives luxuriantly, grows to above 6 feet in height,
produces self-sown seedlings, and (which is a severer test) is as fertile as in
a state of nature. Nevertheless it would be almost a miracle to find this plant
growing spontaneously on such land as that in my garden.
According to Vaucher and Wirtgen, the three forms coexist in all parts of
Europe. Some friends gathered for me in North Wales a number of twigs from
separate plants growing near one another, and classified them. My son did the
same in Hampshire, and here is the result:--
TABLE 4.22. Lythrum salicaria. Classification according to form of flower.
Column 1: Place of origin.
Column 2: Long-styled.
Column 3: Mid-styled.
Column 4: Short-styled.
Column 5: Total.
North Wales : 95 : 97 : 72 : 264.
Hampshire : 53 : 38 : 38 : 129.
Total : 148 : 135 : 110 : 393.
If twice or thrice the number had been collected, the three forms would probably
have been found nearly equal; I infer this from considering the above figures,
and from my son telling me that if he had collected in another spot, he felt
sure that the mid-styled plants would have been in excess. I several times sowed
small parcels of seed, and raised all three forms; but I neglected to record the
parent-form, excepting in one instance, in which I raised from short-styled seed
twelve plants, of which only one turned out long-styled, four mid-styled, and
seven short-styled.
Two plants of each form were protected from the access of insects during two
successive years, and in the autumn they yielded very few capsules and presented
a remarkable contrast with the adjoining uncovered plants, which were densely
covered with capsules. In 1863 a protected long-styled plant produced only five
poor capsules; two mid-styled plants produced together the same number; and two
short-styled plants only a single one. These capsules contained very few seeds;
yet the plants were fully productive when artificially fertilised under the net.
In a state of nature the flowers are incessantly visited for their nectar by
hive- and other bees, various Diptera and Lepidoptera. (4/3. H. Muller gives a
list of the species 'Die Befruchtung der Blumen' page 196. It appears that one
bee, the Cilissa melanura, almost confines its visits to this plant.) The nectar
is secreted all round the base of the ovarium; but a passage is formed along the
upper and inner side of the flower by the lateral deflection (not represented in
the diagram) of the basal portions of the filaments; so that insects invariably
alight on the projecting stamens and pistil, and insert their proboscides along
the upper and inner margin of the corolla. We can now see why the ends of the
stamens with their anthers, and the ends of the pistils with their stigmas, are
a little upturned, so that they may be brushed by the lower hairy surfaces of
the insects' bodies. The shortest stamens which lie enclosed within the calyx of
the long- and mid-styled forms can be touched only by the proboscis and narrow
chin of a bee; hence they have their ends more upturned, and they are graduated
in length, so as to fall into a narrow file, sure to be raked by the thin
intruding proboscis. The anthers of the longer stamens stand laterally farther
apart and are more nearly on the same level, for they have to brush against the
whole breadth of the insect's body. In very many other flowers the pistil, or
the stamens, or both, are rectangularly bent to one side of the flower. This
bending may be permanent, as with Lythrum and many others, or may be effected,
as in Dictamnus fraxinella and others, by a temporary movement, which occurs in
the case of the stamens when the anthers dehisce, and in the case of the pistil
when the stigma is mature; but these two movements do not always take place
simultaneously in the same flower. Now I have found no exception to the rule,
that when the stamens and pistil are bent, they bend to that side of the flower
which secretes nectar, even though there be a rudimentary nectary of large size
on the opposite side, as in some species of Corydalis. When nectar is secreted
on all sides, they bend to that side where the structure of the flower allows
the easiest access to it, as in Lythrum, various Papilionaceae, and others. The
rule consequently is, that when the pistils and stamens are curved or bent, the
stigma and anthers are thus brought into the pathway leading to the nectary.
There are a few cases which seem to be exceptions to this rule, but they are not
so in truth; for instance, in the Gloriosa lily, the stigma of the grotesque and
rectangularly bent pistil is brought, not into any pathway from the outside
towards the nectar-secreting recesses of the flower, but into the circular route
which insects follow in proceeding from one nectary to the other. In
Scrophularia aquatica the pistil is bent downwards from the mouth of the
corolla, but it thus strikes the pollen-dusted breast of the wasps which
habitually visit these ill-scented flowers. In all these cases we see the
supreme dominating power of insects on the structure of flowers, especially of
those which have irregular corollas. Flowers which are fertilised by the wind
must of course be excepted; but I do not know of a single instance of an
irregular flower which is thus fertilised.
Another point deserves notice. In each of the three forms two sets of stamens
correspond in length with the pistils in the other two forms. When bees suck the
flowers, the anthers of the longest stamens, bearing the green pollen, are
rubbed against the abdomen and the inner sides of the hind legs, as is likewise
the stigma of the long-styled form. The anthers of the mid-length stamens and
the stigma of the mid-styled form are rubbed against the under side of the
thorax and between the front pair of legs. And, lastly, the anthers of the
shortest stamens and the stigma of the short-styled form are rubbed against the
proboscis and chin: for the bees in sucking the flowers insert only the front
part of their heads into the flower. On catching bees, I observed much green
pollen on the inner sides of the hind legs and on the abdomen, and much yellow
pollen on the under side of the thorax. There was also pollen on the chin, and,
it may be presumed, on the proboscis, but this was difficult to observe. I had,
however, independent proof that pollen is carried on the proboscis; for a small
branch of a protected short-styled plant (which produced spontaneously only two
capsules) was accidentally left during several days pressing against the net,
and bees were seen inserting their proboscides through the meshes, and in
consequence numerous capsules were formed on this one small branch. From these
several facts it follows that insects will generally carry the pollen of each
form from the stamens to the pistil of corresponding length; and we shall
presently see the importance of this adaptation. It must not, however, be
supposed that the bees do not get more or less dusted all over with the several
kinds of pollen; for this could be seen to occur with the green pollen from the
longest stamens. Moreover a case will presently be given of a long-styled plant
producing an abundance of capsules, though growing quite by itself, and the
flowers must have been fertilised by their own kinds of pollen; but these
capsules contained a very poor average of seed. Hence insects, and chiefly bees,
act both as general carriers of pollen, and as special carriers of the right
sort.
Wirtgen remarks on the variability of this plant in the branching of the stem,
in the length of the bracteae, size of the petals, and in several other
characters. (4/4. 'Verhand. des naturhist. Vereins fur Pr. Rheinl.' 5 Jahrgang
1848 pages 11, 13.) The plants which grew in my garden had their leaves, which
differed much in shape, arranged oppositely, alternately, or in whorls of three.
In this latter case the stems were hexagonal; those of the other plants being
quadrangular. But we are concerned chiefly, with the reproductive organs: the
upward bending of the pistil is variable, and especially in the short-styled
form, in which it is sometimes straight, sometimes slightly curved, but
generally bent at right angles. The stigma of the long-styled pistil frequently
has longer papillae or is rougher than that of the mid-styled, and the latter
than that of the short-styled; but this character, though fixed and uniform in
the two forms of Primula veris, etc., is here variable, for I have seen mid-
styled stigmas rougher than those of the long-styled. (4/5. The plants which I
observed grew in my garden, and probably varied rather more than those growing
in a state of nature. H. Muller has described the stigmas of all three forms
with great care, and he appears to have found the stigmatic papillae differing
constantly in length and structure in the three forms, being longest in the
long-styled form.) The degree to which the longest and mid-length stamens are
graduated in length and have their ends upturned is variable; sometimes all are
equally long. The colour of the green pollen in the longest stamens is variable,
being sometimes pale greenish-yellow; in one short-styled plant it was almost
white. The grains vary a little in size: I examined one short-styled plant with
the grains from the mid-length and shortest anthers of the same size. We here
see great variability in many important characters; and if any of these
variations were of service to the plant, or were correlated with useful
functional differences, the species is in that state in which natural selection
might readily do much for its modification.
ON THE POWER OF MUTUAL FERTILISATION BETWEEN THE THREE FORMS.
Nothing shows more clearly the extraordinary complexity of the reproductive
system of this plant, than the necessity of making eighteen distinct unions in
order to ascertain the relative fertilising power of the three forms. Thus the
long-styled form has to be fertilised with pollen from its own two kinds of
anthers, from the two in the mid-styled, and from the two in the short-styled
form. The same process has to be repeated with the mid-styled and short-styled
forms. It might have been thought sufficient to have tried on each stigma the
green pollen, for instance, from either the mid- or short-styled longest
stamens, and not from both; but the result proves that this would have been
insufficient, and that it was necessary to try all six kinds of pollen on each
stigma. As in fertilising flowers there will always be some failures, it would
have been advisable to have repeated each of the eighteen unions a score of
times; but the labour would have been too great; as it was, I made 223 unions,
i.e. on an average I fertilised above a dozen flowers in the eighteen different
methods. Each flower was castrated; the adjoining buds had to be removed, so
that the flowers might be safely marked with thread, wool, etc.; and after each
fertilisation the stigma was examined with a lens to see that there was
sufficient pollen on it. Plants of all three forms were protected during two
years by large nets on a framework; two plants were used during one or both
years, in order to avoid any individual peculiarity in a particular plant. As
soon as the flowers had withered, the nets were removed; and in the autumn the
capsules were daily inspected and gathered, the ripe seeds being counted under
the microscope. I have given these details that confidence may be placed in the
following tables, and as some excuse for two blunders which, I believe, were
made. These blunders are referred to, with their probable cause, in two
footnotes to the tables. The erroneous numbers, however, are entered in the
tables, that it may not be supposed that I have in any one instance tampered
with the results.
A few words explanatory of the three tables must be given. Each is devoted to
one of the three forms, and is divided into six compartments. The two upper ones
in each table show the number of good seeds resulting from the application to
the stigma of pollen from the two sets of stamens which correspond in length
with the pistil of that form, and which are borne by the other two forms. Such
unions are of a legitimate nature. The two next lower compartments show the
result of the application of pollen from the two sets of stamens, not
corresponding in length with the pistil, and which are borne by the other two
forms. These unions are illegitimate. The two lowest compartments show the
result of the application of each form's own two kinds of pollen from the two
sets of stamens belonging to the same form, and which do not equal the pistil in
length. These unions are likewise illegitimate. The term own-form pollen here
used does not mean pollen from the flower to be fertilised--for this was never
used--but from another flower on the same plant, or more commonly from a
distinct plant of the same form. The figure "0" means that no capsule was
produced, or if a capsule was produced that it contained no good seed. In some
part of each row of figures in each compartment, a short horizontal line may be
seen; the unions above this line were made in 1862, and below it in 1863. It is
of importance to observe this, as it shows that the same general result was
obtained during two successive years; but more especially because 1863 was a
very hot and dry season, and the plants had occasionally to be watered. This did
not prevent the full complement of seed being produced from the more fertile
unions; but it rendered the less fertile ones even more sterile than they
otherwise would have been. I have seen striking instances of this fact in making
illegitimate and legitimate unions with Primula; and it is well known that the
conditions of life must be highly favourable to give any chance of success in
producing hybrids between species which are crossed with difficulty.
TABLE 4.23. Lythrum salicaria, long-styled form.
TABLE 4.23.1. Legitimate union.
13 flowers fertilised by the longest stamens of the mid-styled. These stamens
equal in length the pistil of the long-styled.
Product of good seed in each capsule.
36 53
81 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
45
41
38 percent of these flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 51.2 seeds.
TABLE 4.23.2. Legitimate union.
13 flowers fertilised by the longest stamens of the short-styled. These stamens
equal in length the pistil of the long-styled.
Product of good seed in each capsule.
159 104
43 119
96 poor seed. 96
103 99
0 131
0 116
-
114
84 percent of these flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 107.3 seeds.
TABLE 4.23.3. Illegitimate union.
14 flowers fertilised by the shortest stamens of the mid-styled.
3 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
0 0
0
Too sterile for any average.
TABLE 4.23.4. Illegitimate union.
12 flowers fertilised by the mid-length stamens of the short-styled.
20 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
0 0
0
Too sterile for any average.
TABLE 4.23.5. Illegitimate union.
15 flowers fertilised by own-form mid-length stamens.
2 -
10 0
23 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
Too sterile for any average.
TABLE 4.23.6. Illegitimate union.
15 flowers fertilised by own-form shortest stamens.
4 -
8 0
4 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
Too sterile for any average.
Besides the above experiments, I fertilised a considerable number of long-styled
flowers with pollen, taken by a camel's-hair brush, from both the mid-length and
shortest stamens of their own form: only 5 capsules were produced, and these
yielded on an average 14.5 seeds. In 1863 I tried a much better experiment: a
long-styled plant was grown by itself, miles away from any other plant, so that
the flowers could have received only their own two kinds of pollen. The flowers
were incessantly visited by bees, and their stigmas must have received
successive applications of pollen on the most favourable days and at the most
favourable hours: all who have crossed plants know that this highly favours
fertilisation. This plant produced an abundant crop of capsules; I took by
chance 20 capsules, and these contained seeds in number as follows:--
20 20 35 21 19
26 24 12 23 10
7 30 27 29 13
20 12 29 19 35
This gives an average of 21.5 seeds per capsule. As we know that the long-styled
form, when standing near plants of the other two forms and fertilised by
insects, produces on an average 93 seeds per capsule, we see that this form,
fertilised by its own two pollens, yields only between one-fourth and one-fifth
of the full number of seed. I have spoken as if the plant had received both its
own kinds of pollen, and this is, of course, possible; but, from the enclosed
position of the shortest stamens, it is much more probable that the stigma
received exclusively pollen from the mid-length stamens; and this, as may be
seen in Table 4.23.5, is the more fertile of the two self-unions.
TABLE 4.24. Lythrum salicaria, mid-styled form.
TABLE 4.24.1. Legitimate union.
12 flowers fertilised by the mid-length stamens of the long-styled. These
stamens equal in length the pistil of the mid-styled.
Product of good seed in each capsule.
138 122
149 50
147 151
109 119
133 138
144 0
-
92 percent of these flowers (probably 100 per cent) yielded capsules. Each
capsule contained, on an average, 127.3 seeds.
TABLE 4.24.2. Legitimate union.
12 flowers fertilised by the mid-length stamens of the short-styled. These
stamens equal in length the pistil of the mid-styled.
Product of good seed in each capsule.
112 109
130 143
143 124
100 145
33 12
- 141
104
100 percent of these flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 108.0 seeds; or, excluding capsules with less than 20 seeds, the
average is 116.7 seeds.
TABLE 4.24.3. Illegitimate union.
13 flowers fertilised by the shortest stamens of the long-styled.
83 12
0 19
0 85 seeds small and poor.
- 0
44 0
44 0
45 0
54 percent of these flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 47.4 seeds; or, excluding capsules with less than 20 seeds, the average
is 60.2 seeds.
TABLE 4.24.4. Illegitimate union.
15 flowers fertilised by the longest stamens of the short-styled.
130 86
115 113
14 29
6 17
2 113
9 79
- 128
132 0
93 percent of these flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 69.5 seeds; or, excluding capsules with less than 20 seeds, the average
is 102.8 seeds.
TABLE 4.24.5. Illegitimate union.
12 flowers fertilised by own-form longest stamens.
92 0
9 0
63 0
- 0
136?* 0
0 0
0
(4/6. * I have hardly a doubt that this result of 136 seeds in Table 4.24.5 was
due to a gross error. The flowers to be fertilised by their own longest stamens
were first marked by "white thread," and those by the mid-length stamens of the
long-styled form by "white silk;" a flower fertilised in the later manner would
have yielded about 136 seeds, and it may be observed that one such pod is
missing, namely at the bottom of Table 4.24.1. Therefore I have hardly any doubt
that I fertilised a flower marked with "white thread" as if it had been marked
with "white silk." With respect to the capsule which yielded 92 seeds, in the
same column with that which yielded 136, I do not know what to think. I
endeavoured to prevent pollen dropping from an upper to a lower flower, and I
tried to remember to wipe the pincers carefully after each fertilisation; but in
making eighteen different unions, sometimes on windy days, and pestered by bees
and flies buzzing about, some few errors could hardly be avoided. One day I had
to keep a third man by me all the time to prevent the bees visiting the
uncovered plants, for in a few seconds' time they might have done irreparable
mischief. It was also extremely difficult to exclude minute Diptera from the
net. In 1862 I made the great mistake of placing a mid-styled and long-styled
under the same huge net: in 1863 I avoided this error.)
Excluding the capsule with 136 seeds, 25 percent of the flowers yielded
capsules, and each capsule contained, on an average, 54.6 seeds; or, excluding
capsules with less than 20 seeds, the average is 77.5.
TABLE 4.24.6. Illegitimate union.
12 flowers fertilised by own-form shortest stamens.
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
0 0
0 0
0
Not one flower yielded a capsule.
Besides the experiments in Table 4.24, I fertilised a considerable number of
mid-styled flowers with pollen, taken by a camel's-hair brush, from both the
longest and shortest stamens of their own form: only 5 capsules were produced,
and these yielded on an average 11.0 seeds.
TABLE 4.25. Lythrum salicaria, short-styled form.
TABLE 4.25.1. Legitimate union.
12 flowers fertilised by the shortest stamens of the long-styled. These stamens
equal in length the pistil of the short-styled.
69 56
61 88
88 112
66 111
0 62
0 100
-
83 percent of the flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 81.3 seeds.
TABLE 4.25.2. Legitimate union.
13 flowers fertilised by the shortest stamens of the mid-styled. These stamens
equal in length the pistil of the short-styled.
93 69
77 69
48 53
43 9
0 0
0 0
- 0
61 percent of the flowers yielded capsules. Each capsule contained, on an
average, 64.6 seeds.
TABLE 4.25.3. Illegitimate union.
10 flowers fertilised by the mid-length stamens of the long-styled.
0 14
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
23
Too sterile for any average.
TABLE 4.25.4. Illegitimate union.
10 flowers fertilised by the longest stamens of the mid-styled.
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
0
Too sterile for any average.
TABLE 4.25.5. Illegitimate union.
10 flowers fertilised by own-form longest stamens.
0 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
0 0
0
Too sterile for any average.
TABLE 4.25.6. Illegitimate union.
10 flowers fertilised by own-form mid-length stamens.
64?* 0
0 0
0 0
- 0
21 0
9
(4/7. *I suspect that by mistake I fertilised this flower in Table 4.25.6 with
pollen from the shortest stamens of the long-styled form, and it would then have
yielded about 64 seeds. Flowers to be thus fertilised were marked with black
silk; those with pollen from the mid-length stamens of the short-styled with
black thread; and thus probably the mistake arose.)
Too sterile for any average.
Besides the experiments in the table, I fertilised a number of flowers without
particular care with their own two kinds of pollen, but they did not produce a
single capsule.
SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS.
LONG-STYLED FORM.
Twenty-six flowers fertilised legitimately by the stamens of corresponding
length, borne by the mid-and short-styled forms, yielded 61.5 per cent of
capsules, which contained on an average 89.7 seeds.
Twenty-six long-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by the other stamens of
the mid-and short-styled forms yielded only two very poor capsules.
Thirty long-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by their own-form two sets
of stamens yielded only eight very poor capsules; but long-styled flowers
fertilised by bees with pollen from their own stamens produced numerous capsules
containing on an average 21.5 seeds.
MID-STYLED FORM.
Twenty-four flowers legitimately fertilised by the stamens of corresponding
length, borne by the long and short-styled forms, yielded 96 (probably 100) per
cent of capsules, which contained (excluding one capsule with 12 seeds) on an
average 117.2 seeds.
Fifteen mid-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by the longest stamens of
the short-styled form yielded 93 per cent of capsules, which (excluding four
capsules with less than 20 seeds) contained on an average 102.8 seeds.
Thirteen mid-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by the mid-length stamens
of the long-styled form yielded 54 per cent of capsules, which (excluding one
with 19 seeds) contained on an average 60.2 seeds.
Twelve mid-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by their own-form longest
stamens yielded 25 per cent of capsules, which (excluding one with 9 seeds)
contained on an average 77.5 seeds.
Twelve mid-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by their own-form shortest
stamens yielded not a single capsule.
SHORT-STYLED FORM.
Twenty-five flowers fertilised legitimately by the stamens of corresponding
length, borne by the long and mid-styled forms, yielded 72 per cent of capsules,
which (excluding one capsule with only 9 seeds) contained on an average 70.8
seeds.
Twenty short-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by the other stamens of
the long and mid-styled forms yielded only two very poor capsules.
Twenty short-styled flowers fertilised illegitimately by their own stamens
yielded only two poor (or perhaps three) capsules.
If we take all six legitimate unions together, and all twelve illegitimate
unions together, we get the following results:
TABLE 4.26.
Column 1: Nature of union.
Column 2: Number of Flowers fertilised.
Column 3: Number of Capsules produced.
Column 4: Average Number of Seeds per Capsule.
Column 5: Average Number of Seeds per Flower fertilised.
The six legitimate unions : 75 : 56 : 96.29 : 71.89.
The twelve illegitimate unions : 146 : 36 : 44.72 : 11.03.
Therefore the fertility of the legitimate unions to that of the illegitimate, as
judged by the proportion of the fertilised flowers which yielded capsules, is as
100 to 33; and judged by the average number of seeds per capsule, as 100 to 46.
From this summary and the several foregoing tables we see that it is only pollen
from the longest stamens which can fully fertilise the longest pistil; only that
from the mid-length stamens, the mid-length pistil; and only that from the
shortest stamens, the shortest pistil. And now we can comprehend the meaning of
the almost exact correspondence in length between the pistil in each form and a
set of six stamens in two of the other forms; for the stigma of each form is
thus rubbed against that part of the insect's body which becomes charged with
the proper pollen. It is also evident that the stigma of each form, fertilised
in three different ways with pollen from the longest, mid-length, and shortest
stamens, is acted on very differently, and conversely that the pollen from the
twelve longest, twelve mid-length, and twelve shortest stamens acts very
differently on each of the three stigmas; so that there are three sets of female
and of male organs. Moreover, in most cases the six stamens of each set differ
somewhat in their fertilising power from the six corresponding ones in one of
the other forms. We may further draw the remarkable conclusion that the greater
the inequality in length between the pistil and the set of stamens, the pollen
of which is employed for its fertilisation, by so much is the sterility of the
union increased. There are no exceptions to this rule. To understand what
follows the reader should look to Tables 4.23, 4.24 and 4.25, and to the diagram
Figure 4.10. In the long-styled form the short stamens obviously differ in
length from the pistil to a greater degree than do the mid-length stamens; and
the capsules produced by the use of pollen from the shortest stamens contain
fewer seeds than those produced by the pollen from the mid-length stamens. The
same result follows with the long-styled form, from the use of the pollen of
shortest stamens of the mid-styled form and of the mid-length stamens of the
short-styled form. The same rule also holds good with the mid-styled and short-
styled forms, when illegitimately fertilised with pollen from the stamens more
or less unequal in length to their pistils. Certainly the difference in
sterility in these several cases is slight; but, as far as we are enabled to
judge, it always increases with the increasing inequality of length between the
pistil and the stamens which are used in each case.
The correspondence in length between the pistil in each form and a set of
stamens in the other two forms, is probably the direct result of adaptation, as
it is of high service to the species by leading to full and legitimate
fertilisation. But the rule of the increased sterility of the illegitimate
unions according to the greater inequality in length between the pistils and
stamens employed for the union can be of no service. With some heterostyled
dimorphic plants the difference of fertility between the two illegitimate unions
appears at first sight to be related to the facility of self-fertilisation; so
that when from the position of the parts the liability in one form to self-
fertilisation is greater than in the other, a union of this kind has been
checked by having been rendered the more sterile of the two. But this
explanation does not apply to Lythrum; thus the stigma of the long-styled form
is more liable to be illegitimately fertilised with pollen from its own mid-
length stamens, or with pollen from the mid-length stamens of the short-styled
form, than by its own shortest stamens or those of the mid-styled form; yet the
two former unions, which it might have been expected would have been guarded
against by increased sterility, are much less likely to be effected. The same
relation holds good even in a more striking manner with the mid-styled form, and
with the short-styled form as far as the extreme sterility of all its
illegitimate unions allows of any comparison. We are led, therefore, to conclude
that the rule of increased sterility in accordance with increased inequality in
length between the pistils and stamens, is a purposeless result, incidental on
those changes through which the species has passed in acquiring certain
characters fitted to ensure the legitimate fertilisation of the three forms.
Another conclusion which may be drawn from Tables 4.23, 4.24, and 4.25, even
from a glance at them, is that the mid-styled form differs from both the others
in its much higher capacity for fertilisation in various ways. Not only did the
twenty-four flowers legitimately fertilised by the stamens of corresponding
lengths, all, or all but one, yield capsules rich in seed; but of the other four
illegitimate unions, that by the longest stamens of the short-styled form was
highly fertile, though less so than the two legitimate unions, and that by the
mid-length stamens of the long-styled form was fertile to a considerable degree;
the remaining two illegitimate unions, namely, with this form's own pollen, were
sterile, but in different degrees. So that the mid-styled form, when fertilised
in the six different possible methods, evinces five grades of fertility. By
comparing Tables 4.24.3 and 4.24.6 we may see that the action of the pollen from
the shortest stamens of the long-styled and mid-styled forms is widely
different; in the one case above half the fertilised flowers yielded capsules
containing a fair number of seeds; in the other case not one capsule was
produced. So, again, the green, large-grained pollen from the longest stamens of
the short-styled and mid-styled forms (in Tables 4.24.4 and 4.24.5) is widely
different. In both these cases the difference in action is so plain that it
cannot be mistaken, but it can be corroborated. If we look to Table 4.25 to the
legitimate action of the shortest stamens of the long- and mid-styled forms on
the short-styled form, we again see a similar but slighter difference, the
pollen of the shortest stamens of the mid-styled form yielding a smaller average
of seed during the two years of 1862 and 1863 than that from the shortest
stamens of the long-styled form. Again, if we look to Table 4.23, to the
legitimate action on the long-styled form of the green pollen of the two sets of
longest stamens, we shall find exactly the same result, namely, that the pollen
from the longest stamens of the mid-styled form yielded during both years fewer
seeds than that from the longest stamens of the short-styled form. Hence it is
certain that the two kinds of pollen produced by the mid-styled form are less
potent than the two similar kinds of pollen produced by the corresponding
stamens of the other two forms.
In close connection with the lesser potency of the two kinds of pollen of the
mid-styled form is the fact that, according to H. Muller, the grains of both are
a little less in diameter than the corresponding grains produced by the other
two forms. Thus the grains from the longest stamens of the mid-styled form are 9
to 10, whilst those from the corresponding stamens of the short-styled form are
9 1/2 to 10 1/2 in diameter. So, again, the grains from the shortest stamens of
the mid-styled are 6, whilst those from the corresponding stamens of the long-
styled are 6 to 6 1/2 in diameter. It would thus appear as if the male organs of
the mid-styled form, though not as yet rudimentary, were tending in this
direction. On the other hand, the female organs of this form are in an eminently
efficient state, for the naturally fertilised capsules yielded a considerably
larger average number of seeds than those of the other two forms--almost every
flower which was artificially fertilised in a legitimate manner produced a
capsule--and most of the illegitimate unions were highly productive. The mid-
styled form thus appears to be highly feminine in nature; and although, as just
remarked, it is impossible to consider its two well-developed sets of stamens
which produce an abundance of pollen as being in a rudimentary condition, yet we
can hardly avoid connecting as balanced the higher efficiency of the female
organs in this form with the lesser efficiency and lesser size of its two kinds
of pollen-grains. The whole case appears to me a very curious one.
It may be observed in Tables 4.23 to 4.25 that some of the illegitimate unions
yielded during neither year a single seed; but, judging from the long-styled
plants, it is probable, if such unions were to be effected repeatedly by the aid
of insects under the most favourable conditions, some few seeds would be
produced in every case. Anyhow, it is certain that in all twelve illegitimate
unions the pollen-tubes penetrated the stigma in the course of eighteen hours.
At first I thought that two kinds of pollen placed together on the same stigma
would perhaps yield more seed than one kind by itself; but we have seen that
this is not so with each form's own two kinds of pollen; nor is it probable in
any case, as I occasionally got, by the use of a single kind of pollen, fully as
many seeds as a capsule naturally fertilised ever produces. Moreover the pollen
from a single anther is far more than sufficient to fertilise fully a stigma;
hence, in this as with so many other plants, more than twelve times as much of
each kind of pollen is produced as is necessary to ensure the full fertilisation
of each form. From the dusted condition of the bodies of the bees which I caught
on the flowers, it is probable that pollen of various kinds is often deposited
on all three stigmas; but from the facts already given with respect to the two
forms of Primula, there can hardly be a doubt that pollen from the stamens of
corresponding length placed on a stigma would be prepotent over any other kind
of pollen and obliterate its effects,--even if the latter had been placed on the
stigma some hours previously.
Finally, it has now been shown that Lythrum salicaria presents the extraordinary
case of the same species bearing three females, different in structure and
function, and three or even five sets (if minor differences are considered) of
males; each set consisting of half-a-dozen, which likewise differ from one
another in structure and function.
[Lythrum Graefferi.
I have examined numerous dried flowers of this species, each from a separate
plant, sent me from Kew. Like L. salicaria, it is trimorphic, and the three
forms apparently occur in about equal numbers. In the long-styled form the
pistil projects about one-third of the length of the calyx beyond its mouth, and
is therefore relatively much shorter than in L. salicaria; the globose and
hirsute stigma is larger than that of the other two forms; the six mid-length
stamens, which are graduated in length, have their anthers standing close above
and close beneath the mouth of the calyx; the six shortest stamens rise rather
above the middle of the calyx. In the mid-styled form the stigma projects just
above the mouth of the calyx, and stands almost on a level with the mid-length
stamens of the long and short-styled forms; its own longest stamens project well
above the mouth of the calyx, and stand a little above the level of the stigma
of the long-styled form. In short, without entering on further details, there is
a close general correspondence in structure between this species and L.
salicaria, but with some differences in the proportional lengths of the parts.
The fact of each of the three pistils having two sets of stamens of
corresponding lengths, borne by the two other forms, comes out conspicuously. In
the mid-styled form the pollen-grains from the longest stamens are nearly double
the diameter of those from the shortest stamens; so that there is a greater
difference in this respect than in L. salicaria. In the long-styled form, also,
the difference in diameter between the pollen-grains of the mid-length and
shortest stamens is greater than in L. salicaria. These comparisons, however,
must be received with caution, as they were made on specimens soaked in water
after having been long kept dry.
Lythrum thymifolia.
This form, according to Vaucher, is dimorphic, like Primula, and therefore
presents only two forms. (4/8. 'Hist. Phys. des Plantes d'Europe' tome 2 1841
pages 369, 371.) I received two dried flowers from Kew, which consisted of the
two forms; in one the stigma projected far beyond the calyx, in the other it was
included within the calyx; in this latter form the style was only one-fourth of
the length of that in the other form. There are only six stamens; these are
somewhat graduated in length, and their anthers in the short-styled form stand a
little above the stigma, but yet by no means equal in length the pistil of the
long-styled form. In the latter the stamens are rather shorter than those in the
other form. The six stamens alternate with the petals, and therefore correspond
homologically with the longest stamens of L. salicaria and L. Graefferi.
Lythrum hyssopifolia.
This species is said by Vaucher, but I believe erroneously, to be dimorphic. I
have examined dried flowers from twenty-two separate plants from various
localities, sent to me by Mr. Hewett C. Watson, Professor Babington, and others.
These were all essentially alike, so that the species cannot be heterostyled.
The pistil varies somewhat in length, but when unusually long, the stamens are
likewise generally long; in the bud the stamens are short; and Vaucher was
perhaps thus deceived. There are from six to nine stamens, graduated in length.
The three stamens, which vary in being either present or absent, correspond with
the six shorter stamens of L. salicaria and with the six which are always absent
in L. thymifolia. The stigma is included within the calyx, and stands in the
midst of the anthers, and would generally be fertilised by them; but as the
stigma and anthers are upturned, and as, according to Vaucher, there is a
passage left in the upper side of the flower to the nectary, there can hardly be
a doubt that the flowers are visited by insects, and would occasionally be
cross-fertilised by them, as surely as the flowers of the short-styled L.
salicaria, the pistil of which and the corresponding stamens in the other two
forms closely resemble those of L. hyssopifolia. According to Vaucher and Lecoq,
this species, which is an annual, generally grows almost solitarily (4/9.
'Geograph. Bot. de l'Europe' tome 6 1857 page 157.), whereas the three preceding
species are social; and this fact alone would almost have convinced me that L.
hyssopifolia was not heterostyled, as such plants cannot habitually live
isolated any better than one sex of a dioecious species.
We thus see that within this genus some species are heterostyled and trimorphic;
one apparently heterostyled and dimorphic, and one homostyled.
Nesaea verticillata.
I raised a number of plants from seed sent me by Professor Asa Gray, and they
presented three forms. These differed from one another in the proportional
lengths of their organs of fructification and in all respects, in very nearly
the same way as the three forms of Lythrum Graefferi. The green pollen-grains
from the longest stamens, measured along their longer axis and not distended
with water, were 13/7000 of an inch in length; those from the mid-length stamens
9 to 10/7000, and those from the shortest stamens 8 to 9/7000 of an inch. So
that the largest pollen-grains are to the smallest in diameter as 100 to 65.
This plant inhabits swampy ground in the United States. According to Fritz
Muller, a species of this genus in St. Catharina, in Southern Brazil, is
homostyled. (4/10. 'Botanische Zeitung' 1868 page 112.)
Lagerstroemia Indica.
This plant, a member of the Lythraceae, may perhaps be heterostyled, or may
formerly have been so. It is remarkable from the extreme variability of its
stamens. On a plant, growing in my hothouse, the flowers included from nineteen
to twenty-nine short stamens with yellow pollen, which correspond in position
with the shortest stamens of Lythrum; and from one to five (the latter number
being the commonest) very long stamens, with thick flesh-coloured filaments and
green pollen, corresponding in position with the longest stamens of Lythrum. In
one flower, two of the long stamens produced green, while a third produced
yellow pollen, although the filaments of all three were thick and flesh-
coloured. In an anther of another flower, one cell contained green and the other
yellow pollen. The green and yellow pollen-grains from the stamens of different
length are of the same size. The pistil is a little bowed upwards, with the
stigma seated between the anthers of the short and long stamens, so that this
plant was mid-styled. Eight flowers were fertilised with green pollen, and six
with yellow pollen, but not one set fruit. This latter fact by no means proves
that the plant is heterostyled, as it may belong to the class of self-sterile
species. Another plant growing in the Botanic Gardens at Calcutta, as Mr. J.
Scott informs me, was long-styled, and it was equally sterile with its own
pollen; whilst a long-styled plant of L. reginae, though growing by itself,
produced fruit. I examined dried flowers from two plants of L. parviflora, both
of which were long-styled, and they differed from L. Indica in having eight long
stamens with thick filaments, and a crowd of shorter stamens. Thus the evidence
whether L. Indica is heterostyled is curiously conflicting: the unequal number
of the short and long stamens, their extreme variability, and especially the
fact of their pollen-grains not differing in size, are strongly opposed to this
belief; on the other hand, the difference in length of the pistils in two of the
plants, their sterility with their own pollen, and the difference in length and
structure of the two sets of stamens in the same flower, and in the colour of
their pollen, favour the belief. We know that when plants of any kind revert to
a former condition, they are apt to be highly variable, and the two halves of
the same organ sometimes differ much, as in the case of the above-described
anther of the Lagerstroemia; we may therefore suspect that this species was once
heterostyled, and that it still retains traces of its former state, together
with a tendency to revert more completely to it. It deserves notice, as bearing
on the nature of Lagerstroemia, that in Lythrum hyssopifolia, which is a
homostyled species, some of the shorter stamens vary in being either present or
absent; and that these same stamens are altogether absent in L. thymifolia. In
another genus of the Lythraceae, namely Cuphea, three species raised by me from
seed certainly were homostyled; nevertheless their stamens consisted of two
sets, differing in length and in the colour and thickness of their filaments,
but not in the size or colour of their pollen-grains; so that they thus far
resembled the stamens of Lagerstroemia. I found that Cuphea purpurea was highly
fertile with its own pollen when artificially aided, but sterile when insects
were excluded. (4/11. Mr. Spence informs me that in several species of the genus
Mollia (Tiliaceae) which he collected in South America, the stamens of the five
outer cohorts have purplish filaments and green pollen, whilst the stamens of
the five inner cohorts have yellow pollen. He therefore suspected that these
species might prove to be heterostyled and trimorphic: but he did not notice the
length of the pistils. In the allied Luhea the outer purplish stamens are
destitute of anthers. I procured some specimens of Mollia lepidota and speciosa
from Kew, but could not make out that their pistils differed in length in
different plants; and in all those which I examined the stigma stood close
beneath the uppermost anthers. The numerous stamens are graduated in length, and
the pollen-grains from the longest and shortest ones did not present any marked
difference in diameter. Therefore these species do not appear to be
heterostyled.)]
Oxalis (Geraniaceae).
(Figure 4.11. Oxalis speciosa (with the petals removed).
Left: Long-styled.
Centre: Mid-styled.
Right: Short-styled.
S, S, S, stigmas. The dotted lines with arrows show which pollen must be carried
to the stigmas for legitimate fertilisation.)
In 1863 Mr. Roland Trimen wrote to me from the Cape of Good Hope that he had
there found species of Oxalis which presented three forms; and of these he
enclosed drawings and dried specimens. Of one species he collected 43 flowers
from distinct plants, and they consisted of 10 long-styled, 12 mid-styled, and
21 short-styled. Of another species he collected 13 flowers, consisting of 3
long-styled, 7 mid-styled, and 3 short-styled. In 1866 Professor Hildebrand
proved by an examination of the specimens in several herbaria that 20 species
are certainly heterostyled and trimorphic, and 51 others almost certainly so.
(4/12. 'Monatsber. der Akad. der Wiss. Berlin' 1866 pages 352, 372. He gives
drawings of the three forms at page 42 of his 'Geschlechter-Vertheilung' etc.
1867.) He also made some interesting observations on living plants belonging to
one form alone; for at that time he did not possess the three forms of any
living species. During the years 1864 to 1868 I occasionally experimented on
Oxalis speciosa, but until now have never found time to publish the results. In
1871 Hildebrand published an admirable paper in which he shows in the case of
two species of Oxalis, that the sexual relations of the three forms are nearly
the same as in Lythrum salicaria. (4/13. 'Botanische Zeitung' 1871 pages 416 and
432.) I will now give an abstract of his observations, and afterwards of my own
less complete ones. I may premise that in all the species seen by me, the
stigmas of the five straight pistils of the long-styled form stand on a level
with the anthers of the longest stamens in the two other forms. In the mid-
styled form, the stigmas pass out between the filaments of the longest stamens
(as in the short-styled form of Linum); and they stand rather nearer to the
upper anthers than to the lower ones. In the short-styled form, the stigmas also
pass out between the filaments nearly on a level with the tips of the sepals.
The anthers in this latter form and in the mid-styled rise to the same height as
the corresponding stigmas in the other two forms.
Oxalis Valdiviana.
This species, an inhabitant of the west coast of South America, bears yellow
flowers. Hildebrand states that the stigmas of the three forms do not differ in
any marked manner, but that the pistil of the short-styled form alone is
destitute of hairs. The diameters of the pollen-grains are as follows:--
Table 4.b. Oxalis Valdiviana. Diameters of pollen-grains in divisions of the
micrometer.
Column 1: Source of Pollen-grains.
Column 2: Minimum diameter.
Column 3: Maximum diameter.
From the:
Longest stamens of short-styled form : 8 to 9.
Mid-length stamens of short-styled form : 7 to 8.
Longest stamens of mid-styled form : 8.
Shortest stamens of mid-styled form : 8.
Mid-length stamens of long-styled form : 7.
Shortest stamens of long-styled form : 6.
Therefore the extreme difference in diameter is as 8.5 to 6, or as 100 to 71.
The results of Hildebrand's experiments are given in Table 4.27,
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