AND THE BARDFIELD OXLIP IN NORTH-WESTERN ESSEX, 123
Bardfield Oxlip. P. elatior.
In a wild state.—Single flowers sometimes produce stamens and
pistil of equal length.
Under cultivation.—Scarcely perceptible changes occur (?).
Observations on the Bardfield Oxlip are few, but all the
evidence I can collect goes to show that it is by far the most stable
form of the three species. Darwin knew of some plants kept twenty-
five years under cultivation and they varied but slightly. I have a
plant in my garden which has kept pure for nine years, whilst its
companion cowslips and primroses have gone through changes
incalculable.
The authority for the statement that single flowers sometimes
produce stamens and pistil of equal length is Darwin's book ; a case
was supplied to him in which, out of 894 wild plants, sixteen had
"equal styles." This he considered to be very remarkable as
occurring in the wild state. The same authority says also that
hybrids from P. elatior are rare.
If the stability of the species be confirmed, and the occasional
variations of the filaments' length be regarded as a case of atavism,
should we not be justified in claiming a higher antiquity for the
Bardfield Oxlip than can be accorded to either the cowslip or the
primrose ?
[I have been kindly afforded by the Editor an opportunity of per-
using the above interesting paper. Few who compare Mr. French's
remarks on the distribution of Primula elatior and P. veris in North-
west Essex with the observations contained in my paper "On the
Species of the Genus Primula in Essex" (Trans. E. F. Club, vol.
iii. pp. 148-211) could avoid coming to the conclusion that Mr.
French had borrowed largely from my observations : but he has
satisfactorily shown that at the time he wrote he had no knowledge
of the existence of my paper. His remarks come, therefore, to have
a definite value, as corroborating my own statements upon a very
interesting point in the distribution in Britain of Primula elatior, to
which far too little attention has been given. Mr. French's state-
ments on this point are, I believe, accurate. His theory as to the
cause of the peculiarity of distribution of this species is, however,
questionable. It is difficult to believe that it is due to the existence
or absence of any particular fertilising insect, and it would be very
difficult to prove this, if it were the case. At the same time I am