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Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882

"The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species"

(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.


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