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.
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