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.
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