My dear Darwin

The Leguminous affair is extremely curious,² I am quite gone over to your side in the matter of eternal hybrids & hermaph. Carmichælia & Clianthus have closed flowers, & hence probably require artificial hybridization but Edwardsia has exserted genitalia, & should not be parallel case With regard to the Wellington Clover case, it really looks too good— my impression is that Wellington was hardly a colony before 1842, & that there could not be sufficient clover cultivation there before that to warrant any conclusions, but I may be wrong—³ At any rate I should like some definite details of the state & extent of Clover-crops before 1842, say in 1839–40— I will show your letter to Sinclair, who will be here tomorrow.⁴

None of the New Zealand Legumes have flowers quite as small as Clover, though those of Carmichælia & of Notospartium are very small. Is it not dangerous to assume that Humble bees would not visit small flowers in New Zealand, because they do not in England— In England I fancy the more numerous & active hive-bee forestalls the Humble bee in the matter of small flowers—if indeed the Humble bees do not visit the latter— They surely visit Heather-flowers in Scotland?

It would indeed be curious if a relation could be traced between no bees & no small fld. Leguminosæ—but you must remember the strange absence of small Leguminosæ in Fuegia, Falklands, & the Pacific Islands generally. The question hence becomes a very involved one, & forms part of a larger one, viz is there any relation between the Geog. distrib. of bees & of Leguminosæ.

〈section missing〉⁵ forms & should never have dreamed of establishing two varieties on the 20 specimens, but simply regarded the plant as variable.

Are you coming up next week— we hope the Sulivans⁶ are coming & take a quiet pot-luck with us on Tuesday at 6 when Sinclair will be here & Lindley—⁷ Can you not come if to be in Town?

Henslow will be here on the following week.⁸

〈Jos D Hooker〉