174 MR. C. DARWIN ON THE SEXUAL RELATIONS OF 
and in the short-styled 71. So that we have good concurrent 
evidence of the different average production of seed by the three 
forms. To show that the artificial fertilizations, presently to be 
described, produced their full effect and may be trusted, I may 
state that one mid-styled capsule yielded 151 good seeds, which 
is the exact number of the finest wild capsule examined by me. 
Artificially fertilized short- and long-styled capsules actually pro- 
duced a greater number of seeds than I have found in wild plants, 
but then I did not examine many of the latter. This Lythrum, 
I may add, offers a remarkable instance, how profoundly ignorant 
we are of the life-conditions of each species: naturally it grows 
“in wet ditches, watery places, and especially on the banks of 
streams,” and though it produces so many minute seeds, it never 
spreads on the adjoining land; yet, planted in my garden, on 
clayey soil lying over the chalk, and which is so dry that a rush 
cannot be found, it thrives luxuriantly, grows to above six feet in 
height, produces self-sown seedlings, and (which is a severer test) 
is fully as fertile as in a state of nature. Nevertheless it would 
be almost a miracle to find this plant spontaneously growing on 
such land as my garden, though under its native climate. 
According to Vaucher and Wirtgen, the three forms coexist in 
all parts of Europe. Some friends gathered for me in North 
Wales a number of twigs from separate plants growing near each 
other, and then classified them. My son did the same in Hamp- 
shire, and here is the result :— 
| 
| | Long-styled. | Mid-styled. | Short-styled. | Total. 
| NorthWales| 95 | 97 a dee 
| Hampshire. Se. er E 
Total....] 148 | 135 uo. | se. 
If twiee or thrice the number had been collected, probably the 
three forms would have been found nearly equal; I infer this 
from considering the above figures, and from my son telling me 
that if he had collected in another spot, he felt sure that the 
mid-styled plants would have been in excess. I several times 
sowed small parcels of seed, and raised all three forms; but 1 
neglected to record the parent form, except in one instance, in 
which I raised from short-styled seed twelve plants, of which only 
one turned out long-styled, four mid-styled, and seven short- 
styled. 
