The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same SpeciesDarwin, Charles
Science
The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species
Darwin, Charles
Fertilization of plants; Heterostylism; Plant physiology; Plants -- Variation; Pollination
The long-styled and short-styled flowers of P. angustifolia differ from one
another in structure in nearly the same manner as those of P. officinalis. But
in Figure 3.6 a slight bulging of the corolla in the long-styled form, where the
anthers are seated, has been overlooked. My son William, who examined a large
number of wild plants in the Isle of Wight, observed that the corolla, though
variable in size, was generally larger in the long-styled flowers than in the
short-styled; and certainly the largest corollas of all were found on the long-
styled plants, and the smallest on the short-styled. Exactly the reverse occurs,
according to Hildebrand, with P. officinalis. Both the pistils and stamens of P.
angustifolia vary much in length; so that in the short-styled form the distance
between the stigma and the anthers varied from 119 to 65 divisions of the
micrometer, and in the long-styled from 115 to 112. From an average of seven
measurements of each form the distance between these organs in the long-styled
is to the same distance in the short-styled form as 100 to 69; so that the
stigma in the one form does not stand on a level with the anthers in the other.
The long-styled pistil is sometimes thrice as long as that of the short-styled;
but from an average of ten measurements of both, its length to that of the
short-styled was as 100 to 56. The stigma varies in being more or less, though
slightly, lobed. The anthers also vary much in length in both forms, but in a
greater degree in the long-styled than in the short-styled-form; many in the
former being from 80 to 63, and in the latter from 80 to 70 divisions of the
micrometer in length. From an average of seven measurements, the short-styled
anthers were to those from the long-styled as 100 to 91 in length. Lastly, the
pollen-grains from the long-styled flowers varied between 13 and 11.5 divisions
of the micrometer, and those from the short-styled between 15 and 13. The
average diameter of 25 grains from the latter, or short-styled form, was to that
of 20 grains from the long-styled as 100 to 91. We see, therefore, that the
pollen-grains from the smaller anthers of the shorter stamens in the long-styled
form are, as usual, of smaller size than those in the other form. But what is
remarkable, a larger proportion of the grains were small, shrivelled, and
worthless. This could be seen by merely comparing the contents of the anthers
from several distinct plants of each form. But in one instance my son found, by
counting, that out of 193 grains from a long-styled flower, 53 were bad, or 27
per cent; whilst out of 265 grains from a short-styled flower only 18 were bad,
or 7 per cent. From the condition of the pollen in the long-styled form, and
from the extreme variability of all the organs in both forms, we may perhaps
suspect that the plant is undergoing a change, and tending to become dioecious.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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