Flower forms in the primrose: Biologists unlock 51.7-million-year-old genetic secret to landmark Darwin theory

Scientists have identified the cluster of genes responsible for reproductive traits in the common primrose flower (Primula vulgaris), first noted as important by Charles Darwin more than 150 years ago. Darwin hypothesized that some plant species with two distinct forms of flower, where male and female reproductive organs were of differing lengths, had evolved that way to promote out-crossing by insect pollinators.