To W. C. Williamson 22 October [1877]
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
Oct. 22d
My dear Sir
It was very kind of you to send me the specimens, but I grieve to say that when I opened the little parcel a fragment of glass fell out, & within the cup of the slide there was only a little dry ball of the scales of sphagnum moss.— The resemblance of the first leaves to those of D. rotundifolia seems to me an interesting fact, & indicates that D. spathulata is a modified form.1
It is a fact of the same kind as that of the first leaves of the Ulex being trifoliate.2
I sent you a message a little time ago through Lady Lubbock with respect to Bolbophyllum, but I can give only the conjecture which is in my Orchid book p. 138 2d. Edit.3
Pray believe me | My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Boodle, L. A. 1914. On the trifoliolate and other leaves of the gorse (Ulex europaeus, L.). Annals of Botany 28: 527–30.
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Orchids 2d ed.: The various contrivances by which orchids are fertilised by insects. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition, revised. London: John Murray. 1877.
Summary
Specimen ruined in transit.
Drosera spathulata modified form of D. rotundifolia.
Sends reference regarding Bolbophyllum.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11196
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Crawford Williamson
- Sent from
- Down
- Postmark
- OC 22 77
- Source of text
- James G. Zimmer (private collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11196,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11196.xml