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While residing near Accrington, in Lancashire, Miss Becker was struck with the remarkable appearance of certain plants of Lychnis dioica, which, instead of the usual straw-coloured anthers, displayed a purple mark in the centre of the flower, giving the effect of a handsome dark eye. Further examination showed that, contrary to the usual habit of the plant, many of them were bisexual, each flower containing a pistil as well as stamens; except for the shortness of the styles, these pistils were as well developed as those of ordinary female plants. In 1863 she sent a few flowers to Mr. Charles Darwin, who, after submitting the flower to microscopic investigation, wrote, "The

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dark purple anthers are a mass of some Cryptogamic plant, allied, I suppose, to the smut of Wheat. In the bud the pollen grains can be distinguished, afterwards they are wholly corrupted. There remains a pretty case of a reversion from a dioecious to a hermaphrodite condition." Subsequently he suggested that the plants might be natural hybrids.