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Darwin Correspondence Project

To T. H. Farrer   8 May [1878]1

From Mr. C. Darwin. [Bassett, Southampton.]

May 8th

Thanks for another & much better lot of specimens of the Ledum.—2 I doubt whether case worth labour of investigation. The glands probably serve, in accordance with Kerner’s view, merely to protect the flowers from crawling insects, which would not cross-fertilise them.—3

C.D.

Footnotes

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from T. H. Farrer, 4 May 1878.
2
See letter from T. H. Farrer, 4 May 1878 and n. 1. CD initially thought the plant would be worth investigating to determine whether it was insectivorous (letter to T. H. Farrer, 7 May [1878]). The genus Ledum has been subsumed within the genus Rhododendron; leaves of many species of Ledum have insecticidal properties.
3
Anton Kerner had mentioned that access to the flowers of Ledum palustre was impeded by sticky secretions from the epidermis of the bracts (see Kerner 1876, p. 215).

Bibliography

Kerner, Anton. 1876. Die Schutzmittel der Blüthen gegen unberufene Gäste. In Festschrift der K. K. Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Vienna: K. K. Zoologisch-Botanische Gesellschaft; Braumüller.

Summary

Doubts Ledum warrants investigation. Glands probably serve only to protect the flowers against crawling insects, which would not cross-fertilise them.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11496
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer
Sent from
Bassett
Source of text
Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/30)
Physical description
ApcS †

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11496,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11496.xml

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