HETEROSTYLISM. 213 



Origin of Heterostylism. — The question may be now 

 asked, How has heterostylism arisen ? We have seen, in the 

 first place, that in many cases there is a certain instability in 

 the length of the filaments of the stamens and of the styles, 

 in that they are liable to alter spontaneously, and especially 

 under cultivation.* In the case of Fritnula Auricula, the 

 homomorphic form has the anthers and stigma at the orifice, 

 while in P. Sinensis they are often both low down ; it is clear 

 that either might arise in two ways. In the case of the former, 

 the stamens, while resembling in position that of the stamens 

 in the short-styled form, have pollen like that of the long- 

 styled, the pistil being of that kind. Hence it is reasonable 

 to assume that the anthers have been uplifted. In the 

 Chinese Primrose it is the reverse ; so that the pistil 

 of a long-styled form has been loivered to the level of the 

 stamens; the stigmas, too, are that of the short-styled. 



Recognizing this instability of the essential organs, it is 

 reasonable to assume that it may be due to varying degrees 

 of nutrition which can readily bring about such changes, a 

 relatively strong vegetative vigour elevating the stamens in 

 the one case, while a slight tendency to degeneracy with 

 lessened vital vigour tends to suppress the pistil in the other. 



Assuming a homomorphic form to have been the primitive 

 and ancestral state, we can realize how dimorphism has been 

 brought about by such varying degrees of stimulus having 

 been applied to the stamens and pistil. Insect agency 

 I take to have been this cause, which, at the same time, has 

 by selection fixed the heights of the stamens and style so 



* See the description, given above, of Narcissus co^uus, Fig. 37, 

 p. 121. Mr. Darwin found Gilia to vary much in this respect. It may- 

 be added that it is a not uncommon featiu'e in flowers which are not 

 heterostyled, as e.cj. cultivated Gladioli and CVoci, Fritillaria Meleagris, 

 etc. 



