To Sophy Wedgwood 24 March [1878–80]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
March 24th
My dear Sophy
Will you, if you can, observe one little point for me. Plenty of Birds nest Orchis used to grow a yard or two within wood above walk at top of your arable field.—2 If you could find some just springing up, you wd be able to see whether the young flower-stems break through the ground straight or arched, thus.—
I find that the flower-stems of another leaf-less plant, Lathræa squamaria, comes up in an arch, & therefore I want to know whether this is case with Neottia. Almost all seedlings come up arched.3
Yours affectionately | Ch. Darwin
Love to your Mother.4
P.S. The Lathræa when the flower-stem breaks up through the ground, secretes such an astounding quantity of water that the ground is softened for a foot all round, & Frank who is going to observe the plant carefully, thinks that this water is secreted in order to soften the ground, so as to allow the arched flower-stem to break through.5 It wd. therefore be well observe whether the ground is extra damp round Neottia, though this is very unlikely, & I think that the plants spring up in very loose mould chiefly formed of decayed leaves.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Orchids: On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862.
Summary
Asks her to observe seedlings of Neottia breaking the surface to see whether the flower stems grow straight up or form arches, and whether they secrete water that softens the surrounding ground.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11442
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Katherine Elizabeth Sophy (Sophy) Wedgwood
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Cambridge University Library (MS Add. 4251: 333)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11442,” accessed on 13 December 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11442.xml