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Darwin Correspondence Project

From Fritz Müller   16 February 1870

As soon as the Passiflora, which was visited by humming birds in my garden, flowers again next spring, I shall try fully to answer Mr Farrer’s questions.—1

I enclose a dried flower of this Passiflora; the long flower-stalk is dependent, but curved upwards at the end, so that the flower itself is upright.— You see, there is space enough for a hovering humming-birds head between the anthers and the entrance to the (nectarless) nectary.

There is now flowering with me a white Passiflora with dependent flowers, which is visited by humble-bees.—

The enclosed Passiflora-seeds may perhaps be acceptable to Mr Farrer; at least they are from wild, not hybridised plants.2

Fritz Müller

Itajahy, Febr. 16. 1870.

Footnotes

CD had sent Thomas Henry Farrer an extract from one of Müller’s letters in which Müller said that Passiflora flowers growing in his garden were visited by humming-birds; Farrer had sent CD a couple of questions for Müller (Correspondence vol. 17, letter to T. H. Farrer, [27 November 1869], letter from T. H. Farrer, 28 November 1869, and letter to Fritz Müller, 1 December [1869]).
CD sent this portion of Müller’s letter and the seeds to Farrer with his letter to Farrer of 13 [May 1870].

Bibliography

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

Summary

Sends specimens of Passiflora and seeds for T. H. Farrer [letter enclosed with 7188].

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-7108
From
Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Santa Catharina
Source of text
Linnean Society of London
Physical description
ALS 1p inc

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7108,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7108.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18

letter