From W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 18 July 1877
Royal Gardens Kew
July 18. 1877
Dear Mr Darwin
The plants were sent to you yesterday and I hope have reached you in good condition.1
With regard to Mimosa Sensitiva, I see that Bentham in his monograph of the Mimoseæ. Trans, Linn. Soc. XXX, p. 390 considers that the Linnean species comprised four or five nearly allied forms that are now considered distinct.2
You have I think our plant of Mimosa albida Humb. & Bonpl. of which Bentham remarks “This is the species or variety which most commonly represents the M. sensitiva of our gardens”.3 It is also no doubt the plant which has always been intended in horticultural literature as M. Sensitiva. So I think you may safely take it as the plant which physiologists have had in their minds and laboratories. The true plant is practically the same but the leaflets are more acute and the whole plant is hairy or villous rather than cano-pubescent4 They are in fact only geographical races. M. sensitiva Eastern, & M. albida western. However I have written out to Brazil for seed
Yours very truly | W. T. Thiselton Dyer
Footnotes
Bibliography
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Summary
Has sent Mimosa. The horticultural and physiological Mimosa is M. albida, which has a western distribution, rather than M. sensitiva as it is commonly called in error.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11060
- From
- William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Kew
- Source of text
- DAR 209.2: 159
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11060,” accessed on 1 April 2023, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11060.xml