On the Species of the Genus Primula in Essex. 159
the relative proportions between the two forms ranging
between 32 and 95 as compared with 100. On seven
occasions the 1. outnumbered the s. by more than 2 to 1,
but taking all the observations together we shall see that the
average proportion in which the s. stand to the 1. is as 76 to
100, showing that in this species the 1. are proportionately
far more numerous than in the last; and their majority
seemed to increase slightly as the season went on. I
formerly thought, as in the case of the Primrose, that when
plants grew in the open the 1. were proportionately more
numerous than when growing under cover; but I must
admit that the final working out of the results of my observa-
tions does not confirm this. I am therefore at a loss to
account for the considerable divergence which exists between
some of the observations, and I have on this account stated
in each case the sort of situation in which the plants grew,
that others may draw their own conclusions. It may, how-
ever, be mentioned that in six of the seven cases in which
the 1. were more than twice as numerous as the s. the flowers
were all gathered in the open; but against this stand Obs.
Nos. 9 and 30, in which the 1. were almost exactly or quite
twice as numerous as the s., yet the flowers grew in a dense
wood. One thing, however, I think, these results do show,
and that is that when under "stimulation"13 the long-styled plants
have a great tendency to be the finest. For instance, of 7
abnormally large umbels selected out of Obs. 14 no less than
6 were long-styled; 3 similar umbels in Obs. 15 were all
long-styled; in Obs. 16, when I intentionally gathered 33 of
the finest umbels I could see growing in the open, the s.
stood to the 1. in the proportion of 37 to 100 (the largest
majority I ever obtained); and of 11 abnormally large
umbels no less than 8 were long-styled. In Obs. 21,
when I gathered 76 of the finest umbels I could see growing
in the open, the s. stood to the 1. in the proportion of 46 to 100;
and of 6 abnormally large umbels selected out of these, 4
19 I shall afterwards explain that by "stimulation" I mean a greatly
increased vigour of growth resulting from the access of heat and sunlight
to the plants after the cutting down of a wood.