From H. M. Wilkinson 15 September 1874
Bisterne | Parsonage | Ringwood
Dear Professor Darwin
I have been down this afternoon to the Utricularia but it is almost gone. It appears to have broken up into little pieces of a few inches long, such as some I have sent.1
And this seems to be natural, as there has been no disturbance of the other weeds. I searched diligently to find any that had sunk to the bottom but in vain: The plant is no longer on the top of the water, except a few small pieces but lying submerged on the frogs bit with which it grows. It seems to me to be decaying and I think will have decayed, all at any rate, except the stem, before it reaches the bottom, if it ever does so.
The greater portion of what I have sent consists of the broken pieces which I found half floating— The one or two longer pieces are apparently late flowering specimens. All the flowers have disappeared for nearly a month.
Believe me | To be your’s very truly | H. M. Wilkinson
I could not find one long plant like those we got earlier.
Sepr 15. 1874
Footnotes
Bibliography
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Summary
Utricularia has broken into pieces and appears to be decaying.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9640
- From
- Henry Marlow Wilkinson
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Ringwood
- Source of text
- DAR 58.1: 91–2
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9640,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9640.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22