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Suggested reading
Summary
Contemporary writing Anon., The English matron: A practical manual for young wives, (London, 1846). Anon., The English gentlewoman: A practical manual for young ladies on their entrance to society, (Third edition, London, 1846). Becker, L. E.…
Matches: 2 hits
- … A short outline of the natural system of classification of plants , (London, 1864). …
- … 52:309 (February, 1876), pp. 382 - 387. ‘ Carnivorous plants of Florida ’, Harper’s New …
Dipsacus and Drosera: Frank’s favourite carnivores
Summary
In Autumn of 1875, Francis Darwin was busy researching aggregation in the tentacles of Drosera rotundifolia (F. Darwin 1876). This phenomenon occurs when coloured particles within either protoplasm or the fluid in the cell vacuole (the cell sap) cluster…
Matches: 18 hits
- … University* Charles Darwin’s enthusiasm for carnivorous plants -- plants that attract, trap …
- … culminated in 1875 with the publication of Insectivorous Plants . This treatise laid the …
- … ventures into plant carnivory. Francis’ passion for carnivorous plants first stemmed from aiding in …
- … both father and son. Nearly two-thirds of Insectivorous Plants is dedicated to the sundew. …
- … together. Darwin senior had theorized in Insectivorous Plants that these aggregated cellular …
- … commonly known as fuller’s teasel. In The Loves of the Plants (1789) his grandfather, Erasmus …
- … growing his own specimens and continued collecting wild plants in the spring of 1876. The resulting …
- … senior was responding to critiques that Insectivorous Plants failed to conclusively prove these …
- … family friend J.D. Hooker, who worked extensively with the carnivorous tropical pitcher plant genus …
- … of ‘aggregation’ in Drosera and several other plants.’ He believed that the leaves were ‘adapted …
- … himself from his earlier speculation as to their proto-carnivorous tendencies. Indeed, after …
- … pursuit of the curious filaments. This is not to say his carnivorous curiosity was satiated …
- … of Darwin’s experiments remain the foundation of modern carnivorous theory, he avoided any extensive …
- … purposes, but that they had begun to benefit the plant in carnivorous ways. This discovery opened …
- … Experiments executed during the writing of Insectivorous Plants attempted to address this …
- … size (F. Darwin 1878a)! Since these early experiments, many carnivorous genera have been proven to …
- … debate over whether or not Dipsacus truly boasts a carnivorous appetite. A 2011 study (Shaw and …
- … J. M. 2019. Is the common teasel ( Dipsacus fullonum ) carnivorous or was Francis Darwin wrong? …
Insectivorous Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…
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- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Plants that consume insects …
- … discovery." 1 The resulting volume, Insectivorous Plants (1875), was one in a series of …
- … allowed Darwin to focus on the features of insectivorous plants that allowed them to survive in …
- … them with hair. Through his work he concluded that the plants would only react to the movements of & …
- … with the New Jersey naturalist, Mary Treat , about carnivorous plants. Darwin and Treat exchanged …
- … the entire packet of reading materials here: Insectivorous Plants Source Packet . …
- … at Harvard: To learn about Darwin’s work on carnivorous plants, the class observed a variety …
- … these mechanisms work. To get a closer look at the carnivorous plants the students used …
- … and am now fully satisfied that they are the most wonderful carnivorous plants that I have yet seen. …
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 9 hits
- … inheritance in fowls, of the intercrossing among sweet-pea plants, of variation in the nests of bees …
- … had observed the role of insects in the fertilisation of plants. In the spring and summer of 1860, …
- … hence agents effecting cross-pollination between different plants) necessitated meticulous …
- … morning been looking at my experimental Cowslips & find some plants have all flowers with long …
- … anyhow I will mark with sticks the so-called male & female plants & watch their seeding. It …
- … a paper of 1862 and in The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species (1877). …
- … history, he tested the sensitivity of various insectivorous plants to a large variety of substances, …
- … of the astonishing sensitivity of the leaves of these plants to minute quantities of nitrogenous …
- … work was not published until 1875, when Insectivorous plants appeared. These studies …
Plant or animal? (Or: Don’t try this at home!)
Summary
Darwin is famous for showing that humans are just another animal, but, in his later years in particular, his real passion was something even more ambitious: to show that there are no hard-and-fast boundaries between animals and plants. In 1875 Darwin…
Matches: 9 hits
- … there are no hard-and-fast boundaries between animals and plants. In 1875 Darwin brought …
- … imagination, spawning spoof stories of woman-eating plants , and carnivorous plant sellers …
- … murder, and fatal attraction. Darwin studied pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, waterwheels, …
- … first person to demonstrate clearly that several species of plants can break down organic matter and …
- … of this was part of a wider research project on movement in plants. Darwin was looking for those …
- … the lunch table in search of substances to feed to his pet plants. He tried meat (cooked and …
- … to move, and at the chemistry of the digestive fluids the plants secreted. His obsession was …
- … him squeezed quite flat— I don’t go any more to Plants With habits such as that. …
- … rotundifolia ’: Sophie B. Herrick, ‘Insectivorous plants’, Scribner’s Monthly, April 1877, 804–15. …
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 10 hits
- … year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A vicious dispute over an …
- … (butterwort) for Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants. Amy drew a plant and Francis was …
- … for me’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). Plants that eat . . . but how? …
- … highly original botanical investigations of insectivorous plants. Even more than his previous …
- … sensitivity, and other ‘animal’-like properties in plants led him to work with physiologists at the …
- … Sanderson to do his own original research on insectivorous plants, and Darwin sent him his notes on …
- … study, he also sought out a variety of other insect-eating plants. The surgeon and botanist John …
- … ( Utricularia clandestina ) to be the most wonderful carnivorous plants that she had seen’ ( …
- … the network that Darwin drew on in his work on insectivorous plants was remarkable. The aristocratic …
- … Asa Gray publicised Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants in his articles for Nation and …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 8 hits
- … was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive …
- … work that would culminate in two books, Insectivorous plants (1875) and Cross and self …
- … of Anton Dohrn’s Zoological Station at Naples. Plants that eat and feel? Darwin had …
- … was the main focus of Darwin’s study of insectivorous plants, a group that also included the Venus …
- … involved not only feeding meat, egg, and gelatine to the plants, but also applying various acids and …
- … nerve is touched … a sensation is felt” ( Insectivorous plants , p. 63). The plants secreted a …
- … ( ibid ., p.18). The research on insectivorous plants involved collaboration with a wide …
- … that had known effects on animals. To test whether the plants had a nerve-like structure, Darwin …
Darwin’s plant experiments
Summary
Try out the two interactives to explore why Darwin fed a range of substances to carnivorous plants, including some that were extremely poisonous to animals. Learn how Darwin’s son Francis used a cutting-edge scientific instrument made by another son Horace…
Matches: 2 hits
- … to explore why Darwin fed a range of substances to carnivorous plants, including some that were …
- … son Horace to assist Darwin with his work on Movement in plants . ► Explore …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 7 hits
- … he was living at Downe. He observed the interactions of plants and insects in the natural and semi …
- … his home. In his garden and greenhouses, he cultivated plants from seeds obtained from around the …
- … self-fertilisation); sensitivity in climbing, twining, and carnivorous plants; and competition …
- … of the awful abyss & immensity of all British Plants.T To J. D. Hooker, 15 [June …
- … June [1855] : Darwin describes the systematic collection of plants in a single habitat (now …
- … Recent observations have demonstrated that the range of plants in the meadow remains much as it was …
- … 25 [June 1863] : describing the light-sensing behaviour of plants on his windowsill. On co …
Darwin on human evolution
Summary
'I hear that Ladies think it delightful reading, but that it does not do to talk about it, which no doubt promotes the sale.' For the first time online you can now read the full texts of nearly 800 letters Darwin wrote and received during 1871,…
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- … were published in 1881. He also resumed his work on carnivorous plants, feeding poison to Drosera …
2.12 Allan Wyon, Royal Society medal
Summary
< Back to Introduction The Darwin medal of the Royal Society was awarded on a biennial basis from 1890 onwards, as a way of recognising individual achievement in the scientific fields to which Darwin himself had contributed. The first scientist to be…
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- … by a wreath ‘composed of the leaves and flowers of plants identified with Darwin’s researches’. They …
- … Latin names) as those of Virginia creeper, sundew, pitcher plants, and primrose. Darwin discussed …
- … above these scientific allusions, the varied forms of the plants create a richly decorative effect. …
Natural selection
Summary
How do new species arise? This was the ancient question that Charles Darwin tackled soon after returning to England from the Beagle voyage in October 1836. Darwin realised a crucial (and cruel) fact: far more individuals of each species were born than…
