A flower almost replaced Darwin

Mutationism is a theory according to which new species arise suddenly in a single generation through significant mutations. This idea was defended in 1901 by the Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries, who thought he had found proof of it thanks to his evening primrose cultures started in 1886. His plants constantly produced unprecedented varieties that refused to cross with their parents, before naturalists realized that these specimens were the only ones to present such modifications.