Fertilisation of Orchids is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862. The book was his first detailed demonstration of the power of natural selection. Darwin’s speculations on the origin of species convinced him that cross-fertilisations played an important role in keeping specific forms consistent.
About Fertilisation of Orchids in brief
Fertilisation of Orchids is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862. The book was his first detailed demonstration of the power of natural selection. It explained how complex ecological relationships resulted in the coevolution of orchids and insects. It influenced botanists, and revived interest in the neglected idea that insects played a part in pollinating flowers. It opened up the new study areas of pollination research and reproductive ecology, directly related to Darwin’s ideas on evolution. The view has been expressed that the book led directly or indirectly to all modern work on coev evolution and the evolution of extreme specialisation. Darwin’s speculations on the origin of species convinced him that cross-fertilisations played an important role in keeping specific forms consistent. He rejected the doctrine that the characteristics of a species were static, and was aware from animal husbandry that inbreeding could lead to changes, often deleterious. In the summer of 1841 Charles and Emma Darwin moved from the countryside of London to Down House, the former parsonage in the village of Downe. He followed the recommendation of his friend, the leading botanist Robert Brown, and read Der Beftecht der Natur im Brug im der Blumen im der Brug (Der Befcht der der im im imblumen der der Brucht der Blunden der Bund im der Sprengen im Bundchen (Der der Befung der der der sprecht der Bremen der der Blunge der Büngen der Deutscher Botanist) in 1793.
The little known book was never published in Germany, but was read by Christian Spenninger, a leading botany expert, and later published in the United States. It was the first in a series of books on his innovative investigations into plants. In 1903, Xanthopan morganii praedicta was found in Madagascar. This was confirmed in 1903 as a species of moth with an equally long proboscis. Darwin’s painstaking observations, experiments, and detailed dissection of the flowers explained previously unknown features such as the puzzle of Catasetum, which had been thought to have three completely different species of flowers on the same plant. Within months, experts informed him that specimens he had collected were separate species, not just varieties, and the patterns he saw inspired the inception of his theory ofnatural selection in 1838. Although the general public showed less interest and sales of the book were low, it established Darwin as a leadingBotanist. In 1836, Darwin was given a supernumerary position as a gentleman naturalist and geologist on the second voyage of HMS Beagle, a trip that lasted five years. By the time he returned in October 1836 he had doubts about the doctrines that species were fixed and unchanging. He thought that natural outbreeding would keep wild species homogenous yet vigorous. His ideas were contrary to the common supposition that plants were usually self-sustaining.
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