AND TIIK I^.ARDFIKLD OXI.II' IN NORTH-WESTERN ESSEX, 1 23 



Bardfield Oxlip. P. claiior. 

 In a 7i>ild state. — Single tlowers sometimes produce stamens and 



pistil of eciual length. 

 Under cultivation. — Scarcely perceptible changes occur (?). 



Observations on the Bardfield Oxlip are few, but all the 

 evidence I can collect goes to show that it is by far the most stable 

 form of the three species. Darwin knew of some plants kept twenty- 

 five years under cultivation and they varied but slightly. I have a 

 plant in my garden which has kept pure for nine years, whilst its 

 companion cowslips and primroses have gone through changes 

 incalculable. 



The authority for the statement that single flowers sometimes 

 produce stamens and pistil of ecjual length is Darwin's book ; a case 

 was supplied to him in which, out of 894 wild plants, sixteen had 

 "equal styles." This he considered to be very remarkable as 

 occurring in the wild state. The same authority says also that 

 hybrids from P. elatior are rare. 



If the stability of the species be confirmed, and the occasional 

 variations of the filaments' length be regarded as a case of atavism, 

 should we not be justified in claiming a higher antiquity for the 

 Bardfield Oxli[) than can be accorded to either the cowslip or the 

 primrose ? 



[I have been kindly afforded by the Editor an opportunity of per- 

 using the above interesting paper. Few who compare Mr. French's 

 remarks on the distribution of Primula elatior and P. veris in North- 

 west Essex with the observations contained in my paper " On the 

 Species of the Cienus Primula in Essex " (Trans. E. F. Club, vol. 

 iii. pp. 148-21 1) could avoid coming to the conclusion that Mr. 

 French had borrowed largely from my observations : but he has 

 satisfactorily shown that at the time he wrote he had no knowledge 

 of the existence of my paper. His remarks come, therefore, to have 

 a definite value, as corroborating my own statements upon a very 

 interesting point in the distribution in Britain of Primula elatior., to 

 which far too little attention has been given. Mr. French's state- 

 ments on this point are, I l)elieve, accurate. His theory as to the 

 cause of the peculiarity of distribution of this species is, however, 

 questionable. It is difficult to believe that it is due to the existence 

 or absence of any particular fertilising insect, and it would be very 

 ditticult to prove this, if it were the case. At the same time I am 



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