XX 
THE BIOLOGY OF FLOWERS 
By K. Gorse, Ph.D. 
Professor of Botany in the University of Munich. 
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 important problems of general 
interest, problems which 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 by which 
British and Foreign Orchids are fertilised by insects (First edition, 
London, 1862; second edition, 1877 ; popular edition, 1904). (ii) The 
effects of Cross and Self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom 
(First edition, 1876 ; second edition, 1878). (iii) The different Jorms 
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 point 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 
? More Letters of Charles Darwin, Vol, m. p. 419. 
D. 26 
