XX 



THE BIOLOGY OF FLOWERS 

 By K. Goebel, PLD. 



Professor of Botany in the University of Mrinich. 



There is scarcely any subject to which Darwin devoted so much 

 time and work as to his researches into the biology of flowers, or, in 

 other words, to the consideration of the question to what extent the 

 structural and physiological characters of flowers are correlated with 

 their function of producing fruits and seeds. We know from his 

 own words what fascination these studies possessed for him. We 

 repeatedly find, for example, in his letters expressions such as this : 

 — " Nothing in my life has ever interested me more than the fertili- 

 sation of such plants as Primula and Lythrum, or again Anacamptis 

 or Listera\" 



Expressions of this kind coming from a man whose theories 

 exerted an epoch-making influence, would be unintelligible if his 

 researches into the biology of flowers had been concerned only with 

 records of isolated facts, however interesting these might be. We 

 may at once take it for granted that the investigations were under- 

 taken with the view of following up imjjortant problems of general 

 interest, problems w^hich are briefly dealt with in this essay. 



Darwin published the results of his researches in several papers 

 and in three larger works, (i) On the various contrivances hy which 

 British and Foreign Orchids are fertilised hy insects (First edition, 

 London, 1862; second edition, 1877 ; popular edition, 1904). (ii) The 

 effects of Cross and Self fertilisation in the vegetable Tcingdom 

 (First edition, 1876 ; second edition, 1878). (iii) The different forms 

 of Flowers on plants of the same species (First edition, 1877 ; second 

 edition, 1880). 



Although the influence of his work is considered later, we may 

 here |)()int out that it was almost without a parallel ; not only does 

 it include a mass of purely scientific observations, but it awakened 

 interest in very wide circles, as is shown by the fact that we find the 



* Mure Letters of Charles Darwin, Vol. u. p. 419. 



D. 26 



