LOOSESTRIFE AND PIMPERNEL. 131 



type, on long thin stalks, which roll back as 

 the capsule ripens ; and both have a certain 

 indefinite likeness to one another in the vague 

 points of external appearance, which botanists 

 describe as * habit.' It is true, the blossoms 

 of the woodland loosestrife are a pale delicate 

 yellow, while those of the pimpernel are 

 bright orange-red ; but that is a small matter 

 mainly dependent upon their insect fertilisers 

 and their different distribution, the one plant 

 loving shady copses or moist woods, while 

 the other loves open cornfields and dry 

 barren places. In general shape, however, 

 and in all important characters, the tlossoms 

 are simply identical. 



It is impossible, therefore, to resist the 

 conclusion that the pimpernel is descended, 

 either from the woodland loosestrife itself, or 

 from some common parent form extremely 

 like it. For almost all the distinctive pecu- 

 liarities of the pimpernel, except only its 

 trick of opening in the middle, must have 

 been acquired by the parent form before it 



K 2 



