To Daniel Oliver 1 January [1875]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
Jan. 1st. (A happy new year to you.)
My dear Prof. Oliver.
I will send off this afternoon the specs. of U. montana by Railway.— I have had fine sport, finding plenty of prey in the bladders.2 But Genlisea from Brazil & Africa has been grand, nay magnificent, as they catch plenty of minute creatures (chiefly acari) by quite another plan, viz like an eel-trap but far more complex.3 It is really a wonderful plant, with its bladder, & pipe (15 times as long as the bladder) & with 2 wonderful spiral filaments which likewise apparently catch insects.—
I do not feel quite sure whether I may use the name “Genlisea”: I shd much wish to do so, as the plant is described by Warming by this name, & as from my point of view it amply deserves a distinct generic name.—4
If I do not hear, I will assume that I may speak of the American & African species as “Genlisea”.—
I have not yet had time to examine the other sp. of Utricularia, but assuredly will do so, as I am curious to know whether the sp. in all parts of the world catch & feed on insects.5
Yours very sincerely obliged | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Warming, Eugenius. 1874. Bidrag til Kundskaben om Lentibulariaceæ. I. Genlisea ornata Mart. (Hertil tab. V og VI). II. Spiringen af Fröene hos Utricularia vulgaris. (Hertil tab. VII). Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den naturhistoriske Forening i Kjöbenhavn (1874, Nr. 3–7): 33–58. (Resumé in French, pp. 8–15.)
Summary
Returning the plants DO had sent him from Kew
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9795F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Daniel Oliver
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Newcastle University Special Collections (Spence Watson/Weiss Archive GB186 SW/6/5)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9795F,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9795F.xml