70 ME. DAKTVIX OJf THE I;XISTI:^*CE or TWO rOEJIS 



dry, and distended witli vrater) are alike in both forms. The 

 difference is confined to the pistil : in the one form, -n-hich I will 

 call "short-styled," the column formed by the united styles, and 

 the short stigmas, together is about half the length of the whole 

 pistil io the other and " long-styled " form. A more important ■ 

 distinction is, that the five stigmas in the short-styled form diverge 

 greatly from each other and pass out between the filaments of the 

 stamens, and thus lie within the tube of the corolla. In the 

 long-styled form the elongated stigmas stand nearly upright, and 

 alternate with the anthers. In this latter form the length of the 

 stigmas varies considerably, their upper extremities projecting 

 even a little above the anthers, or reaching up only to about their 

 middle. Nevertheless there is never the slightest difficulty in 

 distinguishing between the two forms ; for, besides the difference 

 in divergence, the stigmas of the short-styled form never reach 

 even to the bases of the anthers. In the short-styled, the papillae 

 on the stigmatic surfaces are shorter, darker-colovired, and more 

 crowded together than in the long-styled form : but these differ- 

 ences seem due merely to the shortening of the stigma ; for in the 

 varieties of the long-styled form with shorter stigmas, the papiUa; 

 are more crowded and darker-coloured than in those with the 

 longer stigmas. Considering the slight and variable differences 

 between the two forms of this Linum, it is not surprising that 

 they have been hitherto overlooked. 



In 1861 I had eleven plants growing in my garden, eight of 

 which were long-styled, and only three short-styled. Two very 

 fine long-styled plants grew in a bed a hundred yards off, and 

 se2)arated from the others by a screen of evergreens. I marked 

 twelve flowers, and put on their stigmas a little pollen from the 

 short-styled plants. The pollen of the two forms is, as stated, 

 identical in appearance; the stigmas of the long-styled flowers 

 were already thickly covered with their own pollen — so thickly 

 that I could not find one bare stigma; and it was late in the 

 season, namely, September 1.3th. Altogether, to expect any result 

 from this trial seemed almost childish. From my experiments, 

 however, on Primula, which have been laid before this Society 

 (' Journal,' vol. vi. p. 77), I had faith, and did not hesitate to make 

 the trial, but certainly I did not anticipate the full result. The 

 germens of these twelve flowers all swelled, and ultimately six fine 

 capsules (the seed of which germinated this year) and two poor 

 capsules were produced ; only four capsules shanked off. These 



