RECORD: Darwin, C. R. 1867.11.27-1871.03.24. Viola tricolor. CUL-DAR79.65-71. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe 3.2023. RN1
NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. The volumes CUL-DAR 76-79 contain material for Darwin's book Cross and self fertilisation (1876).
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Viola tricolor. Three plants, very similar, seedlings, large-flowered, purple & yellow. The pollen is wholly shed from anthers of young flowers & collects in a little pocket or semi-cylinder, formed by narrow incurved base of lower lip, where it is surrounded by dense mass of papillæ. It lies ready to be removed by proboscis of Bees, & to be forced into cup-like stigma.
10 flowers crossed, produced 4 capsules with, 17, 15, 33, & 17 seed.
10 fert. with pollen from same fl. produced only 2 pods with 19 & 3 seeds.
Nov. 23d. 67 Pot I, II & III. 6 or 7 seeds of self-fertilised sown on one side, & more crossed on other side.
Dec. 8' in Pot I self & some crossed have grown, at same time.
(April 3d 68 In one Pot viz II. alone one self- & two crossed came up: of the 2 crossed one equals the self, & the other about 1.3 taller than self.)
(April 23'. 68) Both crossed plants flowered first before the self. — appear equal in growth)
(July 5 68 The tallest crossed flower stem 12 1/2 inches high
do self [do] 8 [do] [do])
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During summer of 1868 Lett. crossed several flowers on new plants & 6 pods gave average of 17.5 seed with max. of 29 & min. of 7.
Several flowers art. self-fert gave 10 pods with average of 13.2. seed, with max. of 29 & min. of 5.
Hardly enough to be trusted. — Germinated on sand & grown on opposite sides of Pots.—
(Sept 20 /68/ The crossed seeds have germinated first & best; many of selfs became mouldy.)
(Dec 6 /68 Plants in several pots, now about 2 1/2 inches high to tips of leaves, & the crossed in all 4 Pots have decided advantage & look larger & finer plants.)
(March 14th 69. The advantage is decidedly kept.)
Pot. I crossed fl. first. Pot II. self-flowered first. Pot III — crossed flowered first. Pot. IV. crossed first. Pot V. crossed flowered first.
& 2 plants in a [2 words illeg]
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Viola tricolor 1869
April 27 — 1869 — measured to tip corner of little leaves at end of latters stem
June 2 1869 ─ most Plants nearly done flowering
[table not transcribed]
April 27 The plants have flowered yesterday in Pot I, II & III.
*The self plants in Pot III (Jan 2d 69) are yellower & less [illeg] than the crossed
June 2d 69 Owing to plant kept in greenhouse, with few Bees & confined in growth, only few pods produced; & these few confined to Pot III & IV & on crossed plants alone.─ /over
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[calculations not transcribed]
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V. tricolor. Sept. 27. 1869
The plants in Pots were bedded out of doors & the difference in the number of pods produced perhaps best shows wonderful difference in size & vigour; but some of the few pods produced contained by the self plants contained fully as many seeds as the pods on the crossed plants.─
Pots. |
Crossed |
Self |
I |
22 |
0 |
II |
22 |
4 |
III. |
76 |
2 |
IV |
39 |
2 |
V |
8 |
9 |
Total |
167 |
17 |
Of the above Pot I & II were left in Pots, & 3 other Pots were turned out with balls of earth unbroken
April 24 1870 The Plants all in these 5 Pots, after being left all winter embedded in open ground — now present so great a difference, tha in size & vigour, that they cannot be compared. The crossed are all a mass of bloom & only the self in Pot II. (which are now very much smaller than the crossed see last page) have flowered at all. In Pot the self almost dead & dwindled to one minute stem.
(Ap 24. 1870 As Pt. II. on self- side was in last page, unusually fine, I have now carefully examined it: it is now only in bulk or diameter of whole tuft or crowd crown only from 1/8 to 1/10 of size of crossed Plants : the tallest flower-stem are 6 1/2 inches, whilst the crossed are 8 inches high.)
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Viola tricolor. Aug 1870.
[Table partly excised, not transcribed]
The seeds from which these plants have been raised were spontaneously produced in open air, from the tall crossed plants & from short self-plants, of last first experiment & no doubt were crossed. The difference no doubt must is due to inheritance.—
The 2 tallest plants on each side of Pots were alone here measured— up to tip of calyx of flowers; all having flowers—
In all 3 Pots the crossed flowered first. —
March 24 1871. The last winter 1870-1871 severe & the selfs all killed in all the pots, (the crossed not the least injured) except in Pot IV in which one self plant has a rosette of leaves about 1/2 size of pea still alive.)
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[calculations not transcribed]
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 30 May, 2023