Pinks and Chickweed 105 
Now, there is another species of Lychnis very 
similar to this, so far as form goes, and no doubt it 
was once a mere variety of it. This is known as the 
White Campion (Lychnis vespertina), and as the 
name indicates, its flowers are entirely white; as 
usual with large white flowers, they open properly 
only in the evening, and then give out a fragrant 
odour to attract crepuscular moths. On a moonless 
night these flowers positively gleam along the 
hedgerow, and as they are usually backed by dark 
vegetation they must be very distinct to night-flying 
insects. 
Occasionally a Red Campion appears with white 
flowers, or a White Campion with red, and at first 
sight this fact might be taken to indicate that the 
two are mere varieties of one form; but there are 
other differences—for instance, the calyx of White 
Campion is green, with longer teeth, the seed-vessel 
is mcre conical, and the teeth by which it opens are 
shorter and remain erect, whilst those of Red Campion 
curl outwardly, and so open the mouth of the capsule 
more widely. Then there is the different hour for 
opening and the fragrance. None of these points is 
of any great importance perhaps by itself, but the 
sum of them witnesses that the white variety has 
been so long separated from the red that the differ- 
ences have become permanent and are transmitted to 
successive generations. 
The appearance of white flowers (albinism) on the 
Red Campion is what we expect to find in the ease of 
most red or blue flowers; it shows how White 
Campion originated. On the other hand, the occur- 
rence of reddish flowers on White Campion is a 
