Sir—

Allow me to thank you for your most kind and courteous reply to the communic⁠⟨⁠ation⁠⟩⁠ I ventured to make to you   I am indeed grateful that you wish to investigate the structure and history of the curious Lychnis.² I hope in the course of next week to send you a small hamper containing roots which will probably continue to flower this season after they have been planted in your garden. On receipt of your second letter this morning I went into the wood and examined 137 plants of Lychnis,³ taking them indiscriminately, though I do not pretend to have examined all I saw. The plants were of four kinds, viz

1 Male flowers of the usual type small pale yellow anthers   56

2 Female flower do. with long spreading pistils   25

3 Hermaphrodites having large dark purple anthers and dark purple anthers and short straight upright pistils   31

Male flowers with stamens like those of the hermaphrodite   25

I searched in vain for a female flower with pistils like the hermaphrodite or an hermaphrodite with pistils like the female flower. this suggests the query Can the long spreading pistils be an adaptation or a struggle to catch the pollen wafted from a distant flower, a provision needless in the hermaphrodite which has an abundant supply close at hand.

I tried in vain to classify the plants according to the ⁠⟨⁠length⁠⟩⁠ of the stamens   this ⁠⟨⁠seems to⁠⟩⁠ vary indefinitely even in the same flower— And I think that when the plant has been gathered a few days, the stamens do grow rather long; you will readily sort the flowers I sen⁠⟨⁠t⁠⟩⁠ under the four heads I have enumerated. I have put in one or two of the common type for comparison with those which grow in your district. I have been given to understand that hermaphrodites occasionally appear in this Lychnis, but have never been able to make out whether they normally differ so much in the character of their stamens and pistils from the common form as do those found at Altham. I have never seen an hermaphrodite Lychnis diurna⁴ except in the woods ⁠⟨⁠near⁠⟩⁠ here where it is, ⁠⟨⁠as⁠⟩⁠ you may gather from the numbers given above, very abundant, and so I have observed it several years in succession, I fancy it is hereditary. I will take care to collect as much se⁠⟨⁠ed⁠⟩⁠ as I can during the summer marking and noting the plants from which I obtain it, and transmit it to you at the end of the season in the capsules. I will also find out as much as possible of the distribution numbers and range of the variety. There is a practically unlimited supply of specimens here and I need hardly say that I shall be most happy to send you as many, and whenever you would like to have them. I hope it is not asking too much that y⁠⟨⁠ou⁠⟩⁠ will be good enough to favour me ⁠⟨⁠wi⁠⟩⁠th the result of your investigation and also let me know if you hear of the variety occurring in other places.

I am Sir | yours very respectfully | Lydia E. Becker

May. 24. I have kept the flowers fresh till today to avoid the detention in the post office over the Sunday. I hope they will arrive in good condition but I will enclose a tin can also with a bunch of the flowers in the packet of roots.