122 THE RANGE OF THE PRIMROSE 



thinks it is to he accounted for by the presence or absence of a 

 moth which visits ahke the primrose and the co\vsH[x AMiether or 

 no there has been a troublesome moth at work in the area of tlie 

 Bardfield Oxhp I am afraid it would be useless to enquire. It does 

 not seem possible that insects could hybridise and annihilate a 

 species ; yet what other solution is forthcoming ? 



The broad teaching of Darwin's book is that hybridisation in 

 these members of the genus Primula is sometimes common, and 

 that the conditions under which this takes place in nature are not 

 often known. The organs of reproduction in forms recently dif- 

 ferentiated appear, in our ignorance, to act capriciously. 



Whatever may have been the cause, the fact of the local extinc- 

 tion of the primrose dates from a time long past, for there are large 

 areas now destitute of both species. A melancholy interest lies in 

 defining these areas, and more particularly in marking the boundary 

 of P. elatior and watching its gradual extinction. Its original 

 boundary perhaps extended Ijeyond the limit now marked by the 

 absence of the primrose. It still extends far into Suffolk and into 

 Cambridgeshire, but is otherwise unknown in the British Isles. 



A more satisfactory task is that of watching its behaviour both in 

 a wild state and under cultivation, and comparing its changes with 

 those of nearly allied species. The changes those species undergo 

 may be roughly tabulated as follows : — 



Primrose. P. vu/i^aris. 

 In a wild state. — Pedicels vary in length ; blooms change slightly in 



colour ; corolla (rarely) becomes foliaceous. 

 Under cultivation. — In addition to the above changes floral enve- 

 lopes increase in number, and flower eventually becomes 

 double, or produces " hose-in-hose." Blooms vary greatly in 

 colour. 



Cowslip. P. ten's. 



In a wild state. — Scape and pedicels vary in their respective lengths, 



and blooms vary in size to such a degree that the plant simulates, 



and is often mistaken for, the oxlip. 

 Under cultivation. — In addition to the above changes flowers alter 



greatly in colour and finally produce the polyanthus. 

 Common Oxlip (a hybrid between P. veris and P. vulgaris.) 

 Under cultivation. — Plants become robust and corolla sometimes 



chan";es in colour. 



