Family: Primulaceae
Common name: Primrose
Scientific name: Primula vulgaris
Date taken: 14/3/2023
Notes:
Primrose is heterostylous. This means that some plants only produce pin flowers with long stigmas + short stamens, while others only produce thrum flowers with long stamens + short stigmas. The phenomenon has been noticed by Darwin, who hypothesised that the arrangement promoted cross-pollination between different plants. More recent research showed that heterostyly in primrose is controlled by a supergene called the S locus, which is absent in pin-flowered plants but present as one single copy (hemizygous) in thrum-flowered plants.
This population was found scattered on chalk grasslands in South London.
Reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36304-4
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