Letter 4414 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 24 [Feb 1864]

Down

24^th

My dear Hooker.—

Do not hate me much— Can you spare me a Smilax with tendrils— You did give me S. aspera (var with mottled leaves) & I failed quite in making out action of tendrils, & this makes me unhappy, for as I now understand Gloriosa, this genus of Smilax alone has wholly beaten me—^f1 Enquire whether a young plant c^d. be spared & if so, when the frost is gone, send it to care of “Down Postman” “per Rail Bromley Kent”^f2 & again I say do not hate me—

C. D.—

Endorsement: Endorsement: `Feby’, `/64′

Footnotes

f1

For CD’s observation of Gloriosa, see letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] and n. 8. In his letter to Hooker of 25 [August 1863] (Correspondence vol. 11), CD wrote that he was `quite stumped’ by the Smilax aspera tendrils. His 1864 experiments with S. aspera var. maculata are dated 30 April and 4, 14, 18, and 19 May (see DAR 157.2: 25), and are discussed in `Climbing plants’, pp. 68–70.

f2

Hooker noted sending Smilax in his letter of 16 March 1864.