Chap. VI. ON HETEEOBTYLED PLANTS. 257 



So have plants which inhabit alpine and lowland sites, 

 dry land, marshes and water.* 



When I first began to experimentise on hetero- 

 styled plants it was under the impression that they 

 were tending to become dioecious ; but I was soon forced 

 to relinquish this notion, as the long-styled plants of 

 Primula which, from possessing a longer pistil, larger 

 stigma, shorter stamens with smaller pollen-grains, 

 seemed to be the more feminine of the two forms, 

 yielded fewer seeds than the short-styled plants which 

 appeared to be in the above respects the more mascu- 

 line of the two. Moreover, trimorphic plants evidently 

 come under the same category with dimorphic, and 

 the former cannot be looked at as tending to become 

 dioecious. With Lyihrum salicaria, however, we have 

 the curious and unique case of the mid-styled form 

 being more feminine or less masculine in nature than 

 the other two forms. This is shown by the large 



* Out of the 38 genera known which (i.e. 43 per cent.) contain 

 to include heterostyled species, species inhabiting the just-speci- 

 about eight, or 21 per cent., are tied stations. So that i3 percent, 

 more or less aquatic in their of those British plants which 

 habits. I was at first struck with have their sexes separated are 

 this fact, for I was not then aware more or less aquatic in their 

 how large a proportion of or- habits, whereas only 21 per cent, 

 dinary plants inhabit such s'ta- of heterostyled plants have such 

 tions. Heterostyled plants may habits. I may add that the her- 

 be said in one sense to have their maphrodite classes, from Monan- 

 sexes separated, as the forma must diia to Gynandria inclusive, con- 

 mutually fertilise one another. tain 447 genera, of which 113 are 

 Therefore it seemed worth while aquatic in the above sense, or only 

 to ascertain what proportion of 25 per cent. It thus appears, as 

 the genera in the Linnean classes, far as can be judged from such 

 Monoecia, Dioeoia and Poly- imperfect data, that there is some 

 gamia, contained species which connection between the separation 

 live " in water, marshes, bogs or of the sexes in plants and the 

 watery places." In Sir W. J. watery nature of the sites which 

 Hooker's ' British Flora ' (4th they inhabit ; but that this does 

 edit. 1838) these three Linnean not hold good with heterostyled 

 slasses include 40 genera, 17 of species. 



