Letter
to
Summary
Sends flowers of a variety of Lychnis dioica which has bisexual flowers.
Transcription
Miss Becker presents her compliments to Mr. Darwin and takes the liberty of sending him the enclosed flowers of a variety of Lychnis dioica common in the woods here but which she has not observed elsewhere.f1 It has bisexual flowers and large dark purple anthers which give the plant a very striking handsome appearance. The same conspicuous anthers occur in flowers bearing stamens only of which one is sent. Miss Becker does not know whether such a variety as this would be interesting to Mr. Darwin, if not she must apologise for having troubled him.
Altham | Accrington | Lancashire
May 18th. 1863.
Footnotes
- f1
- Becker lived in Altham, Lancashire, between 1838 and 1865, during which time she developed an interest in botany (DNB). It was later established that these plants represented a diseased form of Lychnis dioica (Silene dioica) and not a new variety (see letter from L. E. Becker, 23–4 May [1863] and CD note, letter from L. E. Becker, 28 May [1863], and Becker 1869). When Becker published her observations she substituted the name L. diurna, a synonym for L. dioica (Index Kewensis).