The ovary which in _lamarckiana_ and in all other new forms is wholly underneath the calyx-tube, is here only partially so. This tube is inserted at some distance under its summit. The insertion divides the ovary into two parts: an upper and a lower one. The upper part is much reduced in breadth and somewhat attenuated, simulating a prolongation of the base of the style. The lower part is also reduced, but in another manner. At the time of flowering it is like the ovary of _lamarckiana_, neither smaller nor larger. But it is reached by only a very few pollen-tubes, and is therefore always incompletely fertilized. It does [530] not fall off after the fading away of the flower, as unfertilized ovaries usually do; neither does it grow out, nor assume the upright position of normal capsules. It is checked in its development, and at the time of ripening it is nearly of the same length as in the beginning. Many of them contain no good seeds at all; from others I have succeeded in saving only a hundred seeds from thousands of capsules. These seeds, if purely pollinated, and with the exclusion of the visits of insects, reproduce the variety, entirely and without any reversion to the _lamarckiana_ type. Correlated with the detailed structures is the form of the flower-buds. They lack the high stigma placed above the anthers, which in the _lamarckiana_, by the vigorous growth of the style, extends the calyx and renders the flower bud thinner and more slender. Those of the _brevistylis_ are therefore broader and more swollen. It is quite easy to distinguish the individuals by this striking character alone, although it differs from the parent in other particulars. The leaves of the _O. brevistylis_ are more rounded at the tip, but the difference is only pronounced at times, slightly in the adult rosettes, but more clearly on the growing summits of the stems and branches. By this character, the plants [531] may be discerned among the others, some weeks before the flowers begin to show themselves. But the character by which the plants may be most easily recognized from a distance in the field is the failure of the fruits. They were found there nearly every year in varying, but always small numbers. Leaving the short-styled primrose, we come now to the last of our group of retrograde varieties. This is the _O. nanella_, or the dwarf, and is a most attractive little plant. It is very short of stature, reaching often a height of only 20-30 cm., or less than one-fourth of that of the parent. It commences flowering at a height of 10-15 cm., while the parent-form often measures nearly a meter at this stage of its development. Being so very dwarfed the large flowers are all the more striking. They are hardly inferior to those of the _lamarckiana_, and agree with them in structure. When they fade away the spike is rapidly lengthened, and often becomes much longer than the lower or vegetative part of the stem.